Miss Universe organizers get cracking in Nha Trang

A sketch of the state-of-the-art Crown Convention Center in Nha Trang that will be ready by mid-June With just 80 days to go for the Miss Universe 2008 pageant in Nha Trang, organizers are scrambling to ensure the proposed state-of-the-art infrastructure is in place on time.

Le Xuan Than, vice chairman of the Khanh Hoa Province People’s Committee and head of the organizing committee, said, “Engineers and workers are building high-quality roads and lighting systems. One of the most important constructions is the route from Nguyen Tat Thanh Street to Diamond Bay’s Nha Trang Tourism and Entertainment Site.” Miss Universe 2008 organizing company Unicorp. is cooperating with Cam Ranh Airport to build a modern terminal. A 12.5-kilometer stretch of the 40-kilometer road linking the airport with Nha Trang will see flowering plants on both sides. The provincial authorities will ask local businesses this week to plant trees and flowers on this stretch. Than said instead of displaying billboards, the businesses could promote themselves by installing lights and maintaining plants which would survive well after the pageant ended. Each business can maintain a few hundred meters up to a maximum of 1 km. According to Unicorp., 584 Joint Stock Company, the contractor, will complete construction of the Crown Convention Center by the end of May, and install lighting and sound equipment and do the interiors by mid-June. On a 10,000 square meter site in the Nha Trang Tourism and Entertainment Area, the center will be a world class indoor facility capable of seating 7,500. Organizers said the nearby international press center would provide media people everything they needed. Hospitality Unicorp. said the city would add 324 five-star rooms and suites in Diamond Bay before the contestants arrived on June 15. The Miss Universe pageant, to be held for the first time in the country, is sure to see Nha Trang attracting thousands of commercial visitors and tourists. Organizers said some 700 international VIPs, contestants and their relatives would be lodged in four- and five-star hotels and resorts. The Khanh Hoa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said by June - when the preliminary events are scheduled - the city’s 400 hotels would be able to offer over 8,800 rooms, 1,350 of them of four- or five-star quality. The Department of Transports said Nha Trang had some 500 taxis and over 1,200 public buses and cars for hire, which would ensure ease of transport for visitors. Vehicles could also be mobilized from neighboring cities and provinces in an emergency, it said. Security The Police Department said it was preparing for anti-terrorism maneuvers in Diamond Bay at the beginning of June. Hundreds of local officers and soldiers would take part in the drills to be supervised by experts from the Ministry of Public Security, it added. Reported by Xuan Hoa http://www.thanhniennews.com