More job opportunities have been offered to locals. This comes as the Apia Park Stadium is closed from the public for renovation ahead of the All Blacks visit next July.
The historical test is slated to be the biggest match at the park. The week of the test match is also expected to attract thousands of visitors to Samoa.
So on Monday, the park was closed to members of the public as the multi-million-tala effort to spruce it up began.
The park will undergo extensive renovation to expand the field as well as to make the grandstands bigger.
Shanghai Construction Group is the contractor.
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When the Samoa Observer visited yesterday, newly employed locals were already working on the site.
The men were offloading metals and timber, carrying them to the construction area.
In one of the houses at the park, there are already new “electronic equipment” stored, brought in for the special event in July next year.
It was not possible to get an official comment from Shanghai Construction management.
However, one of the employees who was not authorised to speak to the media said he had just started yesterday with the company alongside several others.
“There are quite a lot of us that the company took in for this project,” he said.
“Others come from Lauli’i, Vaiusu and from the other side of the island going to the airport…I was unemployed for quite sometime but I’m grateful I now have a job to help my family.”
Several security guards are at the construction area to ensure the equipments and other construction gears are secured.
Apia Park consists of a stadium with a capacity of 15,000, a gymnasium, tennis court and netball court.
In 2007 it was one of the main venues used for the South Pacific Games. The park is a multi function sports complex primarily used for rugby events and school athletics.
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