The Executive Yuan has approved a proposal to spend NT$13.26 billion (US$410 million) between next year and 2013 on building sports facilities and sponsoring sports activities.
The Council for Economic Planning and Development has recently given the nod to a plan by the Sports Affairs Council (SAC) to improve the nation’s sports environment.
Under the plan, the government will provide funds to establish 20 sports parks and 50 public sports centers, while giving subsidies to local governments that install sports facilities and equipment, an SAC spokesman said yesterday.
From next year, local governments can begin submitting applications for the installation of sports facilities in their areas, the spokesman said.
The SAC will evaluate the applications based on the population size and density of an area within 200 hectares of the proposed sports centers, the spokesman said.
Local governments that agree to take charge of management and operation of the proposed sports facilities will be given priority for subsidies, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the plan also includes the building and refurbishment of sports fields such as basketball courts, swimming pools, skating rinks, tennis courts and slow-pitch softball fields, and the maintenance and repair of sports facilities.
To encourage more people to exercise, the SAC will set up 125 physical fitness test stations nationwide and plans to hand out 200,000 sports and fitness medals during the period.
The SAC hopes that through the program, the number of people who exercise regularly will increase by between 0.5 percent and 1 percent per year so that by 2013, the number of people exercising regularly will have reached 26 percent of the population, SAC officials said.
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