Chinese Government provides grant for Apia Park Stadium Renovation Project (Linked to Record ID#64861, #65361, #64765)

Project narrative

In 2014, the Chinese Government provided a grant to the Government of Samoa for the Apia Park Stadium Renovation Project. The monetary value of the grant commitment is unknown. The purpose of the project was to renovate the 400-meter track, tennis court, and sports field at Apia Park Stadium in the capital city of Apia. The project also involved renovation of the grandstands, the replacement of seats, the installation of a new roof, the installation of a satellite and electronic scoreboard, and the replacement of the sound system. The stadium was originally constructed between 1981 and 1983 with an interest-free loan from the Chinese Government to support the 1983 South Pacific Games. Shanghai Construction Engineering and China Communications Construction were responsible for project implementation. The project commenced in September 2014 and it reportedly employed 100 Chinese workers and 40 Samoan workers. According to the original construction schedule, the project should have been completed and handed over in August 2015. However, since Samoa was scheduled to host the Commonwealth Youth Rugby Games (Manu Samoa-All Blacks Game) beginning on July 8, 2015, the project’s completion date was moved forward to June 2015. On June 26, 2015 the project was officially handed over to the Samoan Government. Then, on September 24, 2015, Chinese Ambassador Wang Xuefeng led a team to conduct a post-project completion inspection.