The total cost of Beijing Olympic venues will be within 13 billion yuan ($1.8 billion), Chen Gang, vice-mayor of Beijing, said yesterday - giving an official figure for the first time.

"We always encouraged frugality in the build-up to the Games," Chen said while briefing the media on progress made in construction of Games venues.

The cost of the National Stadium will be within 3.5 billion yuan ($486 million), he added. The central and local governments have contributed half of the cost with the remainder coming from investors and donations.

With the National Aquatics Center being delivered for use yesterday, all venues in Beijing except for the National Stadium, dubbed the Bird's Nest, have been completed, Chen said.

Responding to media reports about the death of 10 workers at the construction site of the Bird's Nest, officials said the number is not accurate.

"During the building of the Bird's Nest, there were two deaths, one in 2006 and one last year. We investigated the accidents and properly compensated the families based on national standards. People who were responsible for the accidents have been punished," said Ding Zhenkuan, deputy chief of the Beijing municipal bureau of work safety.

The accidents were reported to relevant departments, he added.

Last week, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported that at least 10 workers have died since the construction of the Bird's Nest started in 2003.

According to officials, construction of the 91,000-seat iconic venue, which will hold the opening and closing ceremonies and also serve as the main Games venue, is going smoothly and is scheduled to be completed in March.

For the Beijing Games, 31 venues are needed for competitions and 45 for training. Up to now, 22 have been tried in test events.

"Through the test events, all the venues have met the requirements of the respective international sports federations," said Xu Bo, director of Beijing 2008 Project Construction Headquarters Office.

(China Daily January 29, 2008)