Critics wary over Games ambitions
Expense and inconvenience to local athletes are cited as reports suggest Hong Kong will host Olympic equestrian events
With fresh reports indicating that Hong Kong will host equestrian events during the 2008 Olympics, critics are questioning the wisdom of staging them in the city.
Legislator and International Olympic Committee member Timothy Fok Tsun-ting was told that good progress had been made towards Hong Kong hosting the events during a meeting with International Equestrian Federation President Dona Pilar de Borbon yesterday in Singapore.
'I feel more comfortable and everything is very positive,' the princess said. She did not say when a deal could be reached, but it is widely expected that an announcement will be made in Singapore today or tomorrow.
Mr Fok, president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, said: 'There have been a number of meetings so far and I am confident that an agreement can be reached soon.
'We fully understand their concern of a lack of Olympic atmosphere if the event is moved to Hong Kong, but Hong Kong people have shown great interest in the event, especially the mass media, which carries a lot of coverage on it.'
The Hong Kong Jockey Club would foot the bill for creating a venue. The total bill for hosting the events is estimated at $1.2 billion, but the Jockey Club declined to say how much of that it would pay.
The government estimates the events would bring around $350 million into Hong Kong.
Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, the legislator representing the welfare sector, asked how the government could justify allowing a charity organisation to spend an 'exorbitant sum' on holding an international sports event when resources for almost every aspect of social services have been cut in recent years.
'It seems like face is more important to the government than making sure that its own people have enough to eat,' he said.
Sze Lai-shan, a social worker at the Society for Community Organisation, said the move to host the events was another example of the unfair allocation of resources between the rich and poor.
On one hand, the government said it was strapped for cash, but on the other had been pouring large sums into events such as HarbourFest, she said.
Democratic legislator Lee Cheuk-yan feared hosting the events would be detrimental to local athletes who would have to vacate their training grounds.
If Hong Kong hosts the events, the Sports Institute at Sha Tin would be used for dressage and show jumping, while Beas River Country Club and part of the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling would be used for cross-country events.
The Sports Institute is the main training ground for athletes from eight of 15 elite sports clubs in Hong Kong. They would be moved to train at Wu Kai Sha Youth Village in Ma On Shan, with the Sha Tin site taken over by the Jockey Club from early 2007 to the end of 2008.
Mr Lee said: 'We are very concerned that the whole process of relocation will affect the morale of the sportsmen and women, and affect their results in the Olympics. We think it is very stupid on the part of the government that they seem to be willing to sacrifice the results of these ... sportsmen and women in return for one event, which is not really very eye-catching.'
