Sports equipment that will be used for the Southeast Asian Games have begun arriving since last week.
Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez said this with three weeks left before the opening ceremonies of the games.
“More than 50% of the equipment have been delivered since last week,” said Ramirez.
Among the equipment that were purchased were those involving shooting, rowing, athletics, weightlifting, wrestling and gymnastics were the most expensive.
The government has allocated a total of P6.5 billion for the games, with half going to the procurement of equipment of all 57 participating national sports associations.
The procurement of equipment got slowed down by the delays in the release of the budget for the games.
The biennial meet is set to kick off on Nov. 30 at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
The PSC revealed that shooting’s equipment cost around P73.9 million, while rowing’s were pegged at P58.5 million.
The agency spent P43.1 million for athletics, while weightlifting got P35 million. Wrestling equipment cost P33.3 million while gymnastics had P33.1 million.
Surfing gear was listed at P549,000, squash got P535,000, while netball had P1 million.
Taekwondo equipment cost P2.2 million, while chess had a procurement worth P2.3 million. Jiu-jitsu had P2.3 million and triathlon was at P3.9 million.
Among the equipment that needed to be purchased, those of shooting, rowing, athletics, weightlifting, wrestling and gymnastics were the most expensive.
Meanwhile, foreign participants are expressing their worries on issues ranging from uncompleted facilities to information technology problems and headaches caused by the notorious traffic snares in Manila.
For one, the Singaporeans are concerned about the daily traffic jams on Metro Manila’s congested roads.
To deal with this, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority will implement a stop-and-go traffic scheme along its highways and major roads.
This will allow vehicles carrying athletes and officials to travel smoothly between the venues.
Information technology issues are reportedly hounding the games, leading to slow real-time updates of results and medal standings during the events.