Quality, volume of Singapore Sports Hub's events calendar, programming fell short of expectations: Edwin Tong

SINGAPORE: The quality and volume of the Singapore Sports Hub's calendar of events fell short of what was envisaged, and the project did not do so well in promoting and enhancing the vibrancy of community sports and lifestyle activities, said Minister for Culture, Community, Youth and Sports Edwin Tong in Parliament on Monday (Aug 1).

In a ministerial statement, Mr Tong said that while the current arrangement achieves "world-class sporting infrastructure", it has not done enough to promote sufficient "community vibrancy"in and around the Sports Hub. 

From Dec 9, the government agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) will take over the ownership and management of the Sports Hub, an announcement that was made in June.

SportSG said then it had reached a mutual agreement with current operator SportsHub Pte Ltd (SHPL) to terminate their public-private partnership.

The 35-hectare Singapore Sports Hub was built at a cost of S$1.33 billion. Apart from the 55,000-capacity National Stadium, it also includes an indoor aquatics arena, the multi-purpose OCBC Arena, a water sports centre, the Singapore Indoor Stadium and Kallang Wave Mall.

The project is a public-private partnership between the Government and SHPL, a consortium made up of four companies: Infrared Capital Partners, Dragages Singapore, Cushman & Wakefield Facilities & Engineering and Global Spectrum Asia.

SHPL was engaged in 2010 and has a 25-year contract to design, build, finance and operate the Sports Hub.

Responding to questions from Members of Parliament, Mr Tong said that there was a "confluence of several reasons", which led to the decision to terminate the partnership. 

"In terms of getting a world-class sporting infrastructure ... I think we have achieved that. When we set