The municipal government will improve the city's infrastructure and natural environment for the 16th Asian Games in 2010.

　　The city will have an all-round facelift for the sports gala, according to Zhang Guangning, mayor of Guangzhou, in an address to the annual municipal People's Congress, which opened yesterday.

　　Urban planning will be at the top of the agenda and receive more cash, the mayor said.

　　The city will earmark 25.6 billion yuan (US$3 billion) for expressways, metro lines, power grids, a new opera house, a new library and a new museum.

　　It will also improve water supplies, gas supplies and public transport for the 2010 Asian Games.

　　A total of 61 sports projects for the event, covering a total area of 179 hectares will be started this year, 14 of which are new projects. The remaining 47 schemes are improvements to existing facilities.

　　Total investments in the sports event will reach 3.17 billion yuan (US$382 million), with all facilities scheduled for completion by 2009.

　　Annual investment in the city's infrastructure projects will reach 20 billion (US$2.4 billion) over the next few years.

　　He said that the municipal government will pay equal attention to the improvement of the city's environment.

　　The money for environmental improvements will surpass 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in the coming five years.

　　The municipal government will also step up the planning and development of forest parks and natural protection zones.

　　Mayor Zhang said the 338 quarries closed by the end of 2003 will be planted with trees, shrubs and grass by October. A new round of scenery projects and environmental treatment projects along the Pearl River will also soon start.

　　New sewage disposal projects will include the third phase of the construction of the Liede Sewage Disposal Works. Plants at Dashadi, Datansha and Jinshazhou will be started soon.

　　And the municipal government will take steps to keep pollution under control by installing desulphuration equipment in enterprises that pollute. There will also be curbs on vehicle pollution and noise.

　　Zhang said a plan to cope with solid waste pollution will soon be finished and the construction of several projects for rubbish treatment are on track.