NOTE THE LINK HAS PHOTOS :eek:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/commonwealth-games/4163433/Games-village-exposed-as-Indian-PM-set-to-seize-control
Games village exposed as Indian PM set to seize control
The full extent of the appalling conditions in the Commonwealth Games athletes’ village has been revealed in photos leaked by a Games official.
The pictures, which show filthy bathrooms, animal footprints on beds and exposed wiring, emerged as the Indian Prime Minister prepared to take control of the Games.
Despite the shocking photos, New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie remains increasingly optimistic that the Games will go ahead on October 3 as planned.
A meeting with Delhi’s chief minister has lifted his hopes that the problem-plagued Games village – which was described as “uninhabitable” a few days ago – can be fixed in time for the opening ceremony.
Currie and officials from other competing countries met Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and 40 administrators yesterday.
He said Mrs Dikshit was the first official to admit there was a lot of work to be done and was taking responsibility. Before her arrival there had been denial from the organising committee that there was a problem.
“I guess I am more optimistic that someone has taken ownership,” he said. “But we will wait and see if she has the capacity to move things. It is like trying to stop the Titanic and put it in another direction.”
Currie has delayed the arrival of the New Zealand athletes until September 28. He said a final cut-off date for solving the problems had not been discussed, but time was running out.
"There is a range of plumbing issues, toilets not working, blocked, leaking; some wiring issues; some general health and safety things. There is some leaking in some rooms and still no phone and internet connection.
“We don’t want to move in until things are completed … but there does appear to be more of a will of effort over the last 24 hours.”
Currie said another meeting with fellow chefs de mission was scheduled for today. They want to see some immediate progress and ultimately want the Commonwealth Games Federation to be the one to say the village is safe, secure and complete.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee will meet today, with a decision looming on whether the country will compete in the Games.
The arrival of New Zealand athletes in New Delhi was put back yesterday, because of the shambles over team accommodation.
NZOC president Mike Stanley and secretary-general Barry Maister will brief the NZOC board today after returning from New Delhi.
Mr Stanley said yesterday it was obvious that the village would not be ready for the first New Zealand athletes to move into on Saturday, as previously envisaged. Their arrival date has been pushed back to Tuesday.
“It is tremendously disappointing,” he said.
“The long list of outstanding issues has made it clear the village will now not be ready for New Zealand athletes to move in as planned,”
Mr Stanley and Mr Maister flew to New Delhi after hearing of the shocking state of the New Zealand rooms in the team village from New Zealand team chef de mission Dave Currie.
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“This is not a matter of comfort or luxury; it’s a matter of hygiene and safety,” Mr Stanley said.
“We know how hard this must be for athletes and we’re continuing to push the Commonwealth Games Federation and Organising Committee for an urgent resolution,” he said.
Currie said other areas of the Games were shaping up well.
However, Currie’s comments that the security was among the most stringent he had experienced contradicts that of a company providing security to Australians attending the event, which has warned that the chances of a serious terrorist incident had increased because of a failure to “lock down” venues. The security expert warned that radical groups had abandoned mobile phone technology to avoid detection.
The Sydney Morning Herald also understands that the Australian Commonwealth Games Association has made its own arrangements for the cleaning of their accommodation.
The Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, held crisis talks yesterday with his Sports Minister, M S Gill, and the Urban Development Minister, S Jaipaul Reddy, who is chairman of a top-level ministerial supervisory group that has been criticised over its failure to ensure a smooth build-up to the Games. Despite this meeting there is continuing speculation about the participation of many teams.
Although the Delhi Police Commissioner, Y S Dadwal, promised ‘‘foolproof’’ security, intelligence experts still believe an attack is more likely than not.
The head of one company employed to protect Australians said: ''We’ve changed our assessment because we’ve received intelligence that terror organisations are operating without cellular phones, which means assessments of their levels of ‘chatter’ are totally outdated."
The security expert criticised authorities for failing to cordon off venues. "Lockdown should have begun about two weeks ago, whereby search protocol is put into place for anybody entering certain important venues, but that just hasn’t happened.
“Our assessment on the likelihood of an attack hasn’t changed. We still think it more likely than not but we now believe there’s a much greater chance of a major terrorist incident with a high number of fatalities than we thought before. It also becomes more likely that we could see a co-ordinated attack with multiple explosive devices.”
Mike Hooper, the chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said he noticed a positive change among the representatives of competing nations yesterday.
"There was definitely a mood change this morning at the chefs de mission meeting,’’ he said. "There are still lots of issues to address but it’s clear the right level of resources are being made available and Sheila Dikshit’s team are being seen to get things done. It’s a shame it didn’t happen before.’’
But Hooper’s request that the federation’s president, Michael Fennell, meet Dr Singh has yet to be granted. Fennell, who was expected to arrive in India last night, is due to meet the top public servant today.
Mike Keelan, the acting chief executive of the Australian Weightlifting Federation, said that after talking to the association’s chief executive, Perry Crosswhite, he was satisfied the village would be fine.
The three towers where the Australian team would stay were ‘‘a little bit dirty’’ but contract cleaners the association had brought in had left them pristine, Keelan said. He said Crosswhite had reassured him the weightlifting venue was safe despite its ceiling collapsing this week.