Tokyo doubles amount of planned expenses for Olympics bid

   The Tokyo 2016 Olympic Games Bid Committee headed by Governor Ishihara Shintaro has quietly doubled the planned expense for bidding on the Olympics to be covered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

   This fact was revealed in the application that the committee had submitted to the International Olympic Committee and made public on January 15.

   If Tokyo is nominated as a final candidate for hosting the 2016 Summer Games, 5.5 billion yen will be spent for the bid and Tokyo will shoulder 3.1 billion yen of the cost, according to the application.

   In its plan drawn up in June 2006, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government stated that it will pay 1.5 billion yen.

   Estimated costs for the construction of athletic facilities, including the main stadium, has jumped from 287 billion yen to 325 billion yen.

   In addition, the metropolitan government plans to push ahead with large-scale urban development projects in Tokyo’s central area, including the construction of three beltways.

   Commenting on Tokyo’s plan, Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member Sone Hajime said, “The metropolitan government has drawn up an urban development plan that will cost nine trillion yen in total, using the Olympics as a pretext. Such a plan is unacceptable for it will inevitably lead to environmental destruction by destroying green areas and parks.”
        - Akahata, January 16, 2008