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© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015.Japan to cut cost for Olympic stadium by third, say lawmakers
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MarkX
There is no way in hell that they are going to be able to keep the costs down. Unless they keep two sets of books, which would not surprise me. The other thing that really burns my ass, is when I hear excuses for the rampant costs being blamed on the Tohoku region trying to rebuild. It should be the Tohoku region blaming the damn Olympics for jacking up the costs of construction materials, and pulling workers and skilled people away from what is truly necessary!
Penfold
Let the shenanigans begin!
Yubaru
Talk is cheap! This is just propaganda and hopefully the public will see through it!
dbsaiya
Debating whether to install AC in Tokyo's heat? Great, cut cost on preventive safety and health issues but keep the money in the pockets of the few. It will be interesting to see what happens with this circus run by idiots.
Michael Lam
Original stadium design costed 250 billion with no roof, no facade and no temporary seating in that costing.
On the 26th a Minster said cost will be capped at 200 billion. http://www.japantoday.com/smartphone/view/sports/ioc-wants-main-stadium-ready-by-january-2020
On the 27th they said 155 billion. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/08/27/national/japan-eyes-capping-cost-olympic-stadium-%C2%A5155-billion/#.Vd9xY4bXenM
Today they say cost is capped at 176 billion.
Does not look or sound under control.
It keeps on changing however I cannot see how by reducing only 10000 seats they got from 250 billion to 176 billion.
The government needs to disclose a comparative shopping list so the public can see how their hard earned tax is being spent.
The government also needs to disclose which contractor is providing them with these figures.
Mirai Hayashi
yeah...who needs air conditioning at the SUMMER Olympics?
JeffLee
No air con for an event held in mid August? Yeah, right.
Megumi Shakti
They should slash costs. It's not like their going to win any medals in that stadium .
No air conditioning? Hahahhahaa.
nath
And yet, still no design.
All just empty words.
toshiko
Taisei and Takenaka were awarded contract before Jisshi Sekkei was revealed. Seems now it is skipping them and trying to award to honestier construction companies.
ClippetyClop
I can only imagine how hellishly hot its going to be sitting inside that stadium. If they don't find a cost effective cooling system they are certainly going to need a very cool chillout area somewhere
crustpunker
It's O.K. I just sold the Olympic Minister some magic beans. They will make everything better.
papigiulio
1/3 is still, waaaaay too much money.
Perhaps they should just give up. Its been a farce from the start.
Aly Rustom
Don't hold your breath
Even worse, Abe used them as an excuse to get the Olympics and then threw them to the dogs. This is a new low.
Guy_Jean_Dailleult
No air-conditioning (and no roof) also means no summer music festivals / concerts and all the other events which were, you know, supposed to generate the revenue to operate and pay for the stadium after the Olympics are over. Much better to build a giant white elephant in the center of Tokyo, I guess, so you can say you "slashed costs" and "saved money". Good Lord...
OldHawk
Does this mean the usual bribes, racketeering, and embezzlement will be reduced by a third as well?
gogogo
Media reporting whatever is told to them again.... How is that a third saving? The original cost was 90 billion, if anything it's 50% over!
tokyoclambake
Why is the NATIONAL government even involved in this? It is the TOKYO Olympics, not the Japan Olympics. Can anyone imagine Barack Obama and his Cabinet or the Senate or Congress being involved in, say Los Angeles' Olympic preparations? Ottawa was not involved in Vancouver's Olympics... Our tax dollars hard at work!
Jrw1202
Yah, if the stadium has no air condition there are going to be a lot of people with heat related illness during the games, especially individuals not used to Japanese summers, and not thinking of prevention. That possibly might cost the city even more in emergency medical services...
smithinjapan
So we should praise them and thank them for lowering the costs to being only a LOT higher than the original bid? If they're thinking of cutting corners on air-conditioning, we know full well that in two years with reord temps they'll be panicking to figure out how to avoid criticism over holding the Olympics in peak summer, and saying they'll have to raise costs.
tokyoclambake
I wish I could give credit to whoever said the logo should be a white elephant drowning in red ink...
sighclops
It's a vote of no confidence from me.
nakanoguy01
this is still double what the previous most expensive olympic stadium cost. and how would a/c work with an open stadium? this isn't a dome so...
Ishiwara
I can't believe they are seriously debating whether or not to install AC.
Let me rephrase this: I still can't believe they actually decided to host the Olympics at the end of July. In Tokyo.
Mirai Hayashi
The government is involved because the Olympics is funded by national tax payer money, and not just by tax payers in Tokyo, and because it not just a Tokyo-only event. It involves all of Japan. Its called the "Tokyo" Olympics because the venue is mostly hosted in Tokyo, but in reality its all of Japan that is hosting the event.
No, because the LA Olympics was back in 1984 and Obama was still just a student back then and not even involved in politics yet. But if you are referring to the US federal government being involved,...of course they are. Anything that involves federal funding will need to involve the federal government and funding decisions made by congress.
Why do you think the Soviets boycotted the 1984 Olympics? Its not because they didn't like LA. It because the didn't agree with US government for boycotting the 1980 games in protest for invading Afghanistan (oh the irony)
Not true...The Canadian federal government contributed C$74 million to the Vancouver Olympics. Also you need to factor in all of the infrastructure costs (new roads, buildings, transportation systems) that were built by the Canadian government for this event. Google is your friend,...you should try using it before making assumptions.
Homotenashi
What? Baseball stadiums have no a/c. Have the Olympics in late September.
Aly Rustom
None of which can communicate in English or a foreign language. What are they going to do in a medical emergency?
Disillusioned
"It's under control!"
When are the Tokyo Olympics? 2020 or 2030? They have less then four years to complete it and they are still squabbling over design and costs? Classic!
John-San
It about time the Host country stands up to these fools like Coats. Tokyo Dome is a Great venue and the Lions dome is even better in summer. The Loins Dome (Saibu) can accommodate up to 100,000. Just add more sitting and portable toilets. It has the room and no need for air con. What will they do? Cancel the Games or move it to another Host. With using the Saibu stadium plus other alreadyl built stadiums would save heaps of money.. Where the new stadium in to be built should be where the accommodating the competitors should be built. After the games the accommodation can be sold off.
sangetsu03
One of Obama's first flights on Air Force1 was to visit the Olympic committee in Europe in hope of persuading them to choose Chicago for the 2016 games. This trip has also been considered as Obama's first diplomatic failure. The cost of the trip? About $180,000 per hour. Chicago spent (squandered) about $40 million in their bid to get the Olympics, the state of Illinois had agreed to put up $150 million for the bid. The total cost was estimated to be from $1 billion to $5 billion to host the games.
Currently Brazil has spent about $2.5 billion, with the games still a year off. Don't be surprised if that number more than doubles before the games are held.
The cheers we heard when Tokyo was awarded the games have already changed to groans, and the games are still 5 years away.
fxgai
Why does a few tens of billions make a difference all of a sudden?
Slashing by a third is not bad, but whether 250 billion or 160 billion yen its just a fraction of the government's total expenditures of 100 TRILLION yen, each year.
It amazes me that some Japanese people get their whatevers in a twist over this, while they have presided over a government that has racked up a QUADRILLION yen of debts.
The BOJ is buying 80 TRILLION yen of government debt each year, they could have just had it fund it, like they fund half of everything else. The consequences will be what they may but at least you'll have a stadium.
Who in heck knows the proper price for building a stadium in central Tokyo anyway?
This country is wacko.
toshiko
Texas is a lot hotter than Tpkyo. There are two MLB West outdoor baseball stadiums. Astro and Ranger. One has top ceiling and another is open. Both are full with funs in hot summer..
HaraldBloodaxe
It doesn't matter how much they say they're cutting costs. Once this show is over and everyone in the insiders' club has taken his slice of the pie, they can just burn all the accounts like they did after Nagano and nobody will ever know how much of OUR money they pocketed.