Convention center ready for Asean summit - Cebu gov

Only three days before the start of a high-level meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Cebu officials said on Wednesday that a controversial P510-million convention center is finally ready. Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said they "have delivered as promised" and completed the construction of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) despite doubts from sectors that it would not be finished in time for the summit. The CICC started construction in April. Doubts were raised during its construction if it would be finished in time for the summit and alternative venues were proposed that were resisted by local officials. The summit is set on December 10-14 and will be attended several heads of government. The Asean groups the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The CICC, located in a four-hectare landing Mandaue City, is equipped with modern communication facilities, such as a wi-fi zone area and remote-controlled closed circuit television cameras. Also installed in strategic areas of the CICC are giant TV screens for viewing ongoing meetings of the leaders of the Asean and other countries considered "dialogue partners". The media center will be equipped with hundreds of computers. In a related development, Ambassador Victorino Lecaros appealed to the Cebuanos to bear with any inconvenience — such as strict security precautions and traffic rerouting — arising from the hosting of the summit. -GMANews.TV