The Supervision Committee of the Beijing Olympic Games took a tour to the Olympic venues in the city on March 21, 2005.

Along with the Supervision Committee, representatives from government departments, including the State Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Construction, Ministry for Auditing and Inspection and the General Administration of Sports, also accompanied the inspection team.

Headed by Supervision Committee Chief Huang Shuxian, the team visited the construction sites of the National Stadium and the National Swimming Center. They also took time to hear reports on the progress of each venue's construction, as well as reports on the supervisory work carried out by local government departments overseeing the construction projects.

The inspectors also examined the allocation and utilization of funds for the venues' construction, along with the drafting of regulations, sub-contracting mechanisms, and public tendering of construction projects.

While giving affirmative comments on the progress of venue construction, the Committee pointed out that an effective mechanism of supervision has been in place to ensure completion of the preparatory work at initial stages. A series of regulations have been drafted on supervision of such sensitive issues as use of funds and public tendering for construction projects.

The implementation of best practice and strict standards helped define and clarify the responsibility of every person working for the construction projects. Therefore any persons who fail to meet the requirements will be held responsible, according to the Committee.

Huang Shuxian said various departments of the local government also assume specific responsibilities of supervision in different areas of venue construction, such as preliminary preparations, public tendering for construction projects, construction and appraisal of venues.

He said contractors of the venue construction projects have to sign a code of clean conduct with the government. Any misconduct that the construction companies did in violation of the code of conduct will be recorded by the government.

Huang said information about the Olympic venue construction projects will be publicized on the official website of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), and updated on a regular basis.

(BOCOG March 21, 2005)