Measures taken by SportsHub Pte Ltd to address the condition of the National Stadium pitch

Questions

Mr Baey Yam Keng: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) how will the unsatisfactory condition of the National Stadium pitch affect the international reputation of Singapore given that planned international events have been cancelled or rescheduled; (b) besides payment to SportsHub Pte Ltd being withheld, how are the interests of the Government and public protected in the Private-Public-Partnership arrangement; and (c) apart from the commercial events, what other planned events will be affected and how will these event owners be compensated.

Mr Pritam Singh: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth what steps will be taken to avoid a repeat of the episode where the National Stadium pitch was deemed to have fallen short of international standards during the soccer friendly between Brazil and Japan on 14 October 2014.

Response

1. Minister Lawrence Wong: Members have expressed concerns about the condition of the pitch at the National Stadium and its impact on Singapore’s reputation. I share these concerns.
   

2. Under the public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement, Sports Hub Pte Ltd (SHPL) designed, built, financed and operates the new Singapore Sports Hub for 25 years. The intent of the PPP was to leverage the private partner’s expertise and network to create a vibrant mix of sports and lifestyle activities that would be accessible to all. SHPL is therefore required to make available the various facilities in the Sports Hub for public and private use, according to specifications and standards detailed in the Project Agreement between SHPL and SportSG.
   

3. Developing a major sporting venue in land-scarce Singapore presents unique challenges. Many stadiums around the world are designed for specific purpose and they are not used intensively all year round. This is perhaps possible in countries which do not face land constraints. In Singapore, this is a luxury we cannot afford. As such, SHPL was asked to deliver a multi-purpose Sports Hub, which could accommodate a vibrant calendar of sports and entertainment activities. By and large, I would say that the expertises brought in by SHPL have helped to make the Sports Hub an integrated sports and lifestyle destination for Singaporeans to enjoy.
   

4. However it has faced problems with the National Stadium pitch because of several reasons. For one, SHPL had taken 3 months longer than expected to complete the National Stadium, and this meant that there was not enough time to allow the grass on the pitch to take root and stabilise. In addition, SHPL misjudged the impact that the intensive events calendar would have on the pitch. It had carried out testing before deciding on the hybrid Desso GrassMaster pitch, which is primarily natural turf anchored by artificial fibres. It had also procured a cover that was designed to allow activities and concerts to take place on the pitch with reduced impact on the grass. This has been tested, but it did not work out as planned, in part because the grass was not anchored deeply enough. As a result, the repeated use and covering of the pitch ended up damaging it.
   

5. SHPL recognises that the poor condition of the pitch and the changes in the event schedule have brought about negative publicity to the project. This is also not in the consortium’s own interests, and hence it has stepped forward to take ownership of the issue. It has acknowledged its own shortcomings and has embarked on the necessary remedial actions to improve the condition of the pitch.
   

6. Earlier, SHPL had procured growth lights at its own cost to enhance the growth of the grass. After the recent Brazil-Japan match, the Asia Pacific Dragons – Maori All Blacks rugby match was cancelled and the Jay Chou concert postponed to give the pitch more time to stabilise before the AFF Suzuki Cup in November. SHPL is bearing the costs arising from the cancellation and postponement of these events.
   

7. With the freeing up of the events schedule and the measures put in place so far, we have already seen improvements in the pitch conditions. At the same time, SHPL has been engaging local and overseas experts to fundamentally re-examine its earlier models for the use of the pitch. They will assess if the current pitch solution is viable beyond the Suzuki Cup, or whether more extensive changes are needed in the medium to longer-term to ensure a consistently robust pitch. These are still being studied, and SHPL intends to put in place longer-term measures after the Suzuki Cup.

8. SportSG will continue to monitor the situation and ensure that SHPL does everything necessary to establish a top quality pitch for the National Stadium.