It is reported that Beijing intends to demolish 22 remaining "urban villages", which are home mainly to poor migrants, as it "cleans up" in readiness for the 2008 Olympic Games.
The villages will be demolished by the end of June 2007.
The destruction of the "urban villages" are part of the greening programme to "create a better environment for the Olympic Games".
Beijing denies that they are trying to force poor migrants out of the city before the Olympics.
Over the past 10 years, as Beijing maked ready to host the 2008 Games, many residents have accused developers of using violence to evict people unwilling to move.
Such is the price people have to pay, if they wish to host the Olympics. Sponsorship and advertising deals come before people's rights and liberties.
Friday, 8 December 2006
Thursday, 7 December 2006
Barclays Boycotts Olympics
Barclays has withdrawn from sponsoring the 2012 London Olympics. This is rather ironic, as Barclays is housing the Olympic organising committee in its headquarters.
The sponsorship would have contributed to the currently expected costs of £2BN, needed to run the games themselves.
Barclays, which has loaned the organising committee £50M, was expected to have been among the leaders applying for main sponsorship places.
The winning sponsor, from the world of banking (sans Barclays) will be expected to put up £100M.
Had Barclays become a sponsor, it would have had the right to use Olympic rings in advertising, the right to associate itself with the games and personalities involved in them, and the right to advertise its name and logos at Olympic sites.
Despite what Tessa Jowell and the other Olympics organisers might try to claim, this withdrawal is undoubtedly a blow for the already shambolic Olympics.
The sponsorship would have contributed to the currently expected costs of £2BN, needed to run the games themselves.
Barclays, which has loaned the organising committee £50M, was expected to have been among the leaders applying for main sponsorship places.
The winning sponsor, from the world of banking (sans Barclays) will be expected to put up £100M.
Had Barclays become a sponsor, it would have had the right to use Olympic rings in advertising, the right to associate itself with the games and personalities involved in them, and the right to advertise its name and logos at Olympic sites.
Despite what Tessa Jowell and the other Olympics organisers might try to claim, this withdrawal is undoubtedly a blow for the already shambolic Olympics.
Wednesday, 6 December 2006
The Olympics Bill
Approximately 66% of Londoners believe that they will end up footing the bill for the 2012 London Olympics, as costs continue to spiral out of control.
That at least is the finding of a BBC poll, which showed that 65% of those questioned said that they thought that Londoners will end up paying for the additional costs.
The good people of Greece could tell the citizens of London a thing or two about budget overruns. They are expecting to continue to pay for the financial disaster of the 2004 Athens Olympics for many years to come.
That at least is the finding of a BBC poll, which showed that 65% of those questioned said that they thought that Londoners will end up paying for the additional costs.
The good people of Greece could tell the citizens of London a thing or two about budget overruns. They are expecting to continue to pay for the financial disaster of the 2004 Athens Olympics for many years to come.
Sunday, 3 December 2006
Radiation Hazard At Olympic Site
Jack Lemley the ex head of the building programme for the London Olympics, who quit over budget issues, has ridiculed the Government's preparations for the 2012 Games.
Mr Lemley claims that Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and London Mayor Ken Livingstone repeatedly ignored his warnings that the budget for the event was spiralling out of control.
He also claims that his warnings over the chemical contamination of the Olympic sites were dismissed, because "all they wanted to hear was good news".
It is reported that Mr Lemley was forced to resign after he sent Tessa Jowell a letter warning that the construction of the Olympic sites faced such serious delays, that the Games might have to be scaled down.
Mr Lemley claims that:
"It said all the management costs were underestimated dramatically, by several hundred per cent. These numbers have been known for months by everybody and if Tessa Jowell hasn't told the Prime Minister, she wasn't doing her job. It's a swamp. There is misrepresentation of the situation."
On the subject of contamination Mr Lemley was equally outspoken:
"A blind man could see there was a huge environmental problem. I thought it was highly likely they underestimated. I talked to Tessa Jowell's senior people, Jeff Jacobs and his assistant, almost on a daily basis about this."
The question that we should be asking of our "respected" and "competent" government is why did they choose a site contaminated with scrapyards and hazardous waste from factories which produced items such as; soap, matches, ink, dyes, paraffin, rubber, creosote, fertiliser and varnish.
Seemingly there is even a radiation issue, plus a few unexploded bombs!
Quote:
"They now know there are drums of radioactive material buried at the site and they never had that in their estimates.
In the spring, I learned it was highly likely there was unexploded Second World War ordnance in the ground and I said: 'I'm not going to put a pile-driving crew out there with unexploded bombs.' I wanted trenches dug so people could understand what was going to have to be done to clean the ground up and then the contractors could price it."
Mr Lemley found that his views were not welcome:
"At Olympic Board meetings, I was never invited to speak. Tessa attended with Ken Livingstone and Seb Coe and British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan. All they got was good news."
As I keep saying, politicians should never be entrusted with major projects. They are unskilled, inept, incompetent and venal; they are of little use to man nor beast.
On October 9 he sent a letter, repeating his concerns, to Jowell and copied it to Livingstone and Lord Coe.
Jowell refused to discuss its contents, and ordered him to resign.
The public, and the IOC, have been seriously misled by Labour over these increasingly expensive Games. Unfortunately it will be the public who carry the can for them, rather than the politicians who got us into this mess.
Mr Lemley claims that Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and London Mayor Ken Livingstone repeatedly ignored his warnings that the budget for the event was spiralling out of control.
He also claims that his warnings over the chemical contamination of the Olympic sites were dismissed, because "all they wanted to hear was good news".
It is reported that Mr Lemley was forced to resign after he sent Tessa Jowell a letter warning that the construction of the Olympic sites faced such serious delays, that the Games might have to be scaled down.
Mr Lemley claims that:
- He told the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, and Tessa Jowell before he was hired that there was a serious contamination problem at site chosen for the Games.
- His warnings that the budget seriously under-estimated clean-up costs were ignored.
- His agency was pressured to hide huge sums that should have been added to the budget.
- The Government knew back in May that the Olympics faced an extra £1BN VAT bill, but hid the fact from the public.
"It said all the management costs were underestimated dramatically, by several hundred per cent. These numbers have been known for months by everybody and if Tessa Jowell hasn't told the Prime Minister, she wasn't doing her job. It's a swamp. There is misrepresentation of the situation."
On the subject of contamination Mr Lemley was equally outspoken:
"A blind man could see there was a huge environmental problem. I thought it was highly likely they underestimated. I talked to Tessa Jowell's senior people, Jeff Jacobs and his assistant, almost on a daily basis about this."
The question that we should be asking of our "respected" and "competent" government is why did they choose a site contaminated with scrapyards and hazardous waste from factories which produced items such as; soap, matches, ink, dyes, paraffin, rubber, creosote, fertiliser and varnish.
Seemingly there is even a radiation issue, plus a few unexploded bombs!
Quote:
"They now know there are drums of radioactive material buried at the site and they never had that in their estimates.
In the spring, I learned it was highly likely there was unexploded Second World War ordnance in the ground and I said: 'I'm not going to put a pile-driving crew out there with unexploded bombs.' I wanted trenches dug so people could understand what was going to have to be done to clean the ground up and then the contractors could price it."
Mr Lemley found that his views were not welcome:
"At Olympic Board meetings, I was never invited to speak. Tessa attended with Ken Livingstone and Seb Coe and British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan. All they got was good news."
As I keep saying, politicians should never be entrusted with major projects. They are unskilled, inept, incompetent and venal; they are of little use to man nor beast.
On October 9 he sent a letter, repeating his concerns, to Jowell and copied it to Livingstone and Lord Coe.
Jowell refused to discuss its contents, and ordered him to resign.
The public, and the IOC, have been seriously misled by Labour over these increasingly expensive Games. Unfortunately it will be the public who carry the can for them, rather than the politicians who got us into this mess.
Friday, 1 December 2006
China Relaxes Rules
China has announced that it will relax some of its restrictions on foreign reporters. It says that it will allow foreign media greater freedom to travel and report in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The regulations will come into effect on 1 January 2007, and will temporarily abolish requirements that currently prohibit foreign reporters from traveling or conducting interviews without government approval.
The new rules state that only the consent of the interview subject is needed.
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said:
"It is crystal clear that as long as the interviewee agrees, you can do your reporting."
Melinda Liu, president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of China and Beijing bureau chief for Newsweek, said:
"In general, this is progress in terms of liberalizing the conditions under which foreign journalists work in China."
However, the new Olympic regulations contain loopholes and expire on October 17th 2008.
Liu, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said:
"Foreign journalists will not limit their activities to the Games themselves. They will also cover politics, science, technology and the economy.
The 'related matters' ... actually expands the areas on which foreign journalists can report."
The question is, what will happen after the 17th of October 2008?
The regulations will come into effect on 1 January 2007, and will temporarily abolish requirements that currently prohibit foreign reporters from traveling or conducting interviews without government approval.
The new rules state that only the consent of the interview subject is needed.
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said:
"It is crystal clear that as long as the interviewee agrees, you can do your reporting."
Melinda Liu, president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of China and Beijing bureau chief for Newsweek, said:
"In general, this is progress in terms of liberalizing the conditions under which foreign journalists work in China."
However, the new Olympic regulations contain loopholes and expire on October 17th 2008.
Liu, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said:
"Foreign journalists will not limit their activities to the Games themselves. They will also cover politics, science, technology and the economy.
The 'related matters' ... actually expands the areas on which foreign journalists can report."
The question is, what will happen after the 17th of October 2008?
Tuesday, 28 November 2006
Over Budget and Overdue
In another example of the gross mismanagement and incompetence that is plaguing the organisation and planning of the 2012 London Olympics, the new plans for a "slimmed-down" Olympic aquatics centre have been unveiled that show a budget overrun of £25M and a completion date that is three years late.
When the designs were first submitted last year, Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister, reportedly claimed that "a change in the specification had almost doubled the costs, which is simply unacceptable".
Despite that attempt to rein in the costs, the budget is still going to overrun by £25M.
To add to the Olympics misery Jack Lemley, the Olympics chief who resigned over the spiralling costs, accused Jowell of "mud slinging". This is based on reports that Jowell, whose husband faces criminal trial in Italy, secretly told MPs that Lemley was too sick to continue in his job.
Jowell had allegedly said that he had suffered a stroke and that he "fell asleep in meetings".
Lemley was in fact being treated for an irregular heartbeat, just like Tony Blair's "minor problem" in 2004.
When he resigned, Lemley said:
"The costs are going to go up on an exponential basis and I'm just not going to be part of that."
Jowell, needless to say has let it be known, via a spokesman, that she disputes Lemley's claim:
"We are not aware that she had any conversations in which she said what you are describing."
Politicians are not fit to run a brothel, let alone organise a multi billion pound event such as the Olympics.
When the designs were first submitted last year, Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister, reportedly claimed that "a change in the specification had almost doubled the costs, which is simply unacceptable".
Despite that attempt to rein in the costs, the budget is still going to overrun by £25M.
To add to the Olympics misery Jack Lemley, the Olympics chief who resigned over the spiralling costs, accused Jowell of "mud slinging". This is based on reports that Jowell, whose husband faces criminal trial in Italy, secretly told MPs that Lemley was too sick to continue in his job.
Jowell had allegedly said that he had suffered a stroke and that he "fell asleep in meetings".
Lemley was in fact being treated for an irregular heartbeat, just like Tony Blair's "minor problem" in 2004.
When he resigned, Lemley said:
"The costs are going to go up on an exponential basis and I'm just not going to be part of that."
Jowell, needless to say has let it be known, via a spokesman, that she disputes Lemley's claim:
"We are not aware that she had any conversations in which she said what you are describing."
Politicians are not fit to run a brothel, let alone organise a multi billion pound event such as the Olympics.
Monday, 27 November 2006
Rats in a Sack
It is a rare event indeed when I find myself agreeing with a Liberal Democrat. However, I am more than amused and in agreement with the description by Don Foster (Liberal Democrat Culture spokesman) of the politicians involved in the Olympics planning debacle as being like "rats in a sack"
A very fitting description indeed!
Foster has called upon the Labour Party to stop fighting "like rats in a sack" over the funding of the 2012 Olympics in London, and to "shut up" until the final budget is sorted out.
Hah! If only politicians could be made to shut up!
Foster's call came after a particularly shambolic week, in which Ken Livingstone (mayor of London) and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell publicly disagreed over the budget for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Foster has correctly identified that public confidence in the Olympics is "ebbing away", and that the country would face "serious difficulties" if the in-fighting didn't end soon.
Quote:
"This is nonsense arguing going on. We have got two different Government departments, we have got Ken Livingstone, we have got the Leader of the House, all acting like rats in a sack fighting each other. This isn't what it should be about".
Adding:
"Nobody knows where we stand and confidence in our ability to deliver the Olympics is sadly ebbing away when it is going to be absolutely fantastic. We should be celebrating it and I wish people frankly would shut up."
Quite rightly he is calling for a proper budget, which should be independently audited and presented to Parliament and the people. However, this budget should have been prepared and audited prior to the bid being put forward for the Games. That way we would have had a say as to whether we really wanted the Games or not, rather than having them foisted on us as a fait a compli.
As Foster says:
"If confidence ebbs away at the rate it is doing at the moment then I think we are in serious difficulties."
Never leave large scale projects in the hands of politicians, they are not capable of running them without allowing their own egotistical self interest to take priority.
A very fitting description indeed!
Foster has called upon the Labour Party to stop fighting "like rats in a sack" over the funding of the 2012 Olympics in London, and to "shut up" until the final budget is sorted out.
Hah! If only politicians could be made to shut up!
Foster's call came after a particularly shambolic week, in which Ken Livingstone (mayor of London) and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell publicly disagreed over the budget for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Foster has correctly identified that public confidence in the Olympics is "ebbing away", and that the country would face "serious difficulties" if the in-fighting didn't end soon.
Quote:
"This is nonsense arguing going on. We have got two different Government departments, we have got Ken Livingstone, we have got the Leader of the House, all acting like rats in a sack fighting each other. This isn't what it should be about".
Adding:
"Nobody knows where we stand and confidence in our ability to deliver the Olympics is sadly ebbing away when it is going to be absolutely fantastic. We should be celebrating it and I wish people frankly would shut up."
Quite rightly he is calling for a proper budget, which should be independently audited and presented to Parliament and the people. However, this budget should have been prepared and audited prior to the bid being put forward for the Games. That way we would have had a say as to whether we really wanted the Games or not, rather than having them foisted on us as a fait a compli.
As Foster says:
"If confidence ebbs away at the rate it is doing at the moment then I think we are in serious difficulties."
Never leave large scale projects in the hands of politicians, they are not capable of running them without allowing their own egotistical self interest to take priority.
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