Brunei ready to hold 20th SEA Games
Brunei ready to hold 20th SEA Games
By P. Parameswaran
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (AFP): Oil-rich Brunei is preparing to roll out the red carpet for participants at next month's Southeast Asian Games, which the tiny state hopes will help fuel its economic recovery.
The 4,000 athletes and officials of the 20th SEA Games will be housed in newly-completed luxury apartments in a leafy enclave in the heart of Brunei's capital Bandar Seri Begawan.
The Games village of previous host countries will be no match for the grand 12-hectare (30-acre) accommodation site here comprising 13 gleaming residential towers ranging from five to 15 stories.
Sources said the construction cost of just one apartment unit of three to five bedrooms worked out to several hundred thousands of dollars.
But even if they are housed in style, athletes may not be able to uncork champagne to toast their victories as public consumption of liquor is banned in predominantly-Muslim Brunei.
Shops are also prohibited from selling alcoholic drinks in the sultanate.
This is the first time Brunei in northwest Borneo island is hosting the SEA Games, the region's most prestigious sporting event. It will be held from Aug. 7 to 15 during which schools will be closed so that students can join in the extravaganza.
A government source said Brunei's powerful ruler Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, among the richest men in the world, had sent "strong signals" to officials to make every effort to ensure the event's success.
The source said the Games will be a good test for Brunei, which is hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in 2000 to be attended by leaders of 21 economies, including the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
The Games should also give a boost to tourism, a key component of growth for Brunei which is reeling from an economic slowdown caused by the Asian financial crisis which erupted in mid-1997.
Deputy Finance Minister Selamat Munap told AFP that tourism was among key sectors which Brunei was banking on to keep economic growth in positive territory this year. He forecast growth at just over zero percent in 1999.
"We expect to have many visitors coming for the 20th SEA Games -- in addition to the athletes and officials," he said, adding that a number of new hotels were constructed in anticipation of the increased tourist arrivals.
An organizing committee spokesman said that for a little over a week Brunei's population of 300,000 will be swelled by the 10,000 visitors expected to converge here for the Games.
Two of several new hotels were opened to business only in recent weeks and their staff have been put through crash-course training, officials said. buses and cars have been imported specially for the event.
Neighboring countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia are also lending a hand to Brunei in organizing the games.
Most of the 21 events at the games, with 789 medals up for grabs, will be held at the sprawling Hassanal Bolkiah Sports Complex, where workers are racing to put the finishing touches to a costly facelift.
Apart from Brunei, the other participating countries are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.