Mauricio "Moying" Martelino, who along with athletics association president Go Teng Kok represented the country in the chef de mission seminar held last week in Doha in preparation for the Games, said the building had just been completed.

The said building, erected just outside the main stadium, will have high-tech communication facilities for the use of media men.

Besides sharing the same working area, television and newspaper personnel will also be housed together in the press village which is also near the athletes’ headquarters so that all working media men will have easy access to the main stadium and all competition venues.

"Maybe DAGOC (Doha Asian Games Organizing Committee) only wants all media people to stay together in one roof where they will be billeted and where they will be working," Martelino told Bulletin.

Martelino, who helped organized Qatar’s National Olympic Committee, said journalists can choose either occupying a single room or share it with another.

The rate of a single occupancy is pegged at 0 a day, while a double occupancy costs 0 a day.

Except for the venues of golf and equestrian competitions, all other venues are accessible. But there shuttle buses are also available at the press village.

The distance between the press village and the media center is two kilometers.

Meantime, deadline for the submission of applications for accommodations is today. Applications can be submitted either at the Philippine Olympic Committee offices at the Philippine International Convention Center or the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. —Eddie ALINEA