Sport Minister Gary Hunt revealed yesterday that close to a billion dollars has been spent on preparing the site for the Tarouba Sporting Complex.

However, he could not say, when pressured by the Opposition, when the project, which has been clouded in controversy, would be completed nor how much would be the final cost.

In response to a question on the Order Paper from Opposition MP Hamza Rafeeq, Hunt began by clarifying that the multi-billion dollar project is not called the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium but the Tarouba Sporting Complex.

He said the Tarouba Sporting Complex would comprise of a number of sporting buildings, namely, the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Brian Lara Cricket Stadium (15,000 seating capacity), an elite centre of excellence for sports science, sports medicine, bio mechanic lab, testing and conditioning, an aquatic centre, a cycling velodrome, a centre for field house sports (eg basketball, volleyball, netball and badminton), a boxing and martial arts centre, a running track and field, a gymnastic centre, a tennis centre, an administrative centre and hotel accommodation.

Hunt said the Tarouba Sporting Complex was located on a site of 281 acres, which forms part of a larger estate of 627 acres. He said UDeCOTT has advised that the sum expended in the development of the entire 627 acre site, which will accommodate the Brian Lara Cricket stadium and other planned infrastructure, amounted to $631,921,862. He said site works, drainage, roads and utilities cost $108,697,537 (Vat exclusive). The stadium structure cost $419,536,998 (Vat exclusive) and project design, project management, consultants, OSHA, security and site office totalled $103,687,327, he added.

In response to Rafeeq’s request for the cost of the entire project, Hunt said, ’It is not feasible to give a projected cost for the entire sporting complex and all the planned infrastructure, as the under briefs for all sporting infrastructure are not yet complete.’

In response to his question on the expected date of completion, Hunt said, ’It is not feasible to give the completion date of the entire sporting complex.’

In response to the projected annual cost of maintenance of the complex after completion, Hunt said, ’It is not feasible to give a projected maintenance cost of the entire sporting complex as the user brief for each component of the planned complex is not yet complete.’