$700M for Taruba Stadium: Hunt

Sports Minister Gary Hunt has confirmed that the long-delayed Taruba stadium and sporting complex has already cost the government of Trinidad and Tobago TT$700 million. And he told the House of Representatives he cannot give a final cost of the project or when it would be completed.

Hunt was responding Friday to a question by Caroni Central MP Dr Hamza Rafeeq, who wanted to know. Rafeeq was asking for details on:

• The projected cost of the entire project
• The amount of money already spent on it
• The expected completion date
• The projected annual cost of maintenance of the complex after completion of construction

The complex was initially projected to cost $275 million. Hunt told the House it is "not feasible to give a projected cost for the entire sporting complex and all the planned infrastructure as the user brief for all sporting infrastructure is not yet complete."

He gave a breakdown on costs so far of the project, which is being managed by the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (UDeCOTT):

• Site works, drainage, roads and utilities—$108,697,537
• Stadium structure—$419,536,998
• Project design, project management, construction management, consultants, Osha, security and site office—$103,687,327

The minister refused to give a projected maintenance cost, saying "the user brief for each component of the planned complex is not yet complete."