|
|
|
| May 19, 2006 | Friday | Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1427 |
‘Stunning’ Beijing wins praise from IOC
BEIJING, May 18: Beijing received a rave review for their “stunning” venues and “high quality” organisation from the IOC on Thursday at the end of three-day inspection of preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Hein Verbruggen, head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s coordination commission for the Beijing Games, also expressed confidence that organisers would honour commitments on the environment and media freedom.
“We cannot think of any other word than stunning when we described the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatic Centre,” he told a news conference. I think the Bird's Nest stadium will be the future icon of the city like the Opera House is for Sydney.”
The positive comments are in stark contrast to those made in the run-up to the last Olympics in Athens, where one IOC visit resulted in a warning to speed up construction. “ As they move from the planning to the operational stage, we are extremely pleased with the way it is going,” Verbruggen said of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG). We are dealing with a high quality organising committee, really excellent people.”
Verbruggen said he was happy with assurances from BOCOG that the more than 20,000 media expected to descend on Beijing for the Games in August 2008 would be able to operate freely. “We have a guarantee in the host city contract that journalists would be able to operate as they do in other Games in other countries,” Verbruggen said.
“It has been repeated several times, it was guaranteed by (BOCOG president) Mr Liu Qi himself and we have no reason to believe that will not be the case.”
Verbruggen said the IOC's environmental experts had reported that progress was being made on cleaning up Beijing's notorious air pollution and he pointed out that BOCOG had recently been awarded certification for its environmental management system. “There are certainly still challenges ahead of us,” he said.
“We have confidence they will fulfil the promises they made at the evaluation stage.”
After Verbruggen had described Beijing's gridlocked traffic system as “rather busy”, BOCOG vice-president Jiang Xiaoyu outlined a four-point plan for relieving congestion and said a vehicle ban had not been ruled out for the period of the Games.
“Many host cities have adopted temporary bans for some vehicles,” he said. “It is an effective method of traffic control. We have not made a final decision yet.”
Verbruggen said he had been told that tickets for the Games would be affordable to the local population and that BOCOG were studying ways of making sure they “get them to the right people”.
He also commended BOCOG for their educational programme, work with sponsors, their plans for ensuring the Games leaves a legacy behind after 2008 and for their willingness to listen.
“There has probably never been an organising committee that is so open to advice than this,” he said. “There has probably never been an organising committee that has asked so much advice.”
“”They're willing to learn and they're willing to take advice, whether it's from Chinese or from foreigners.”—Reuters
|
|
|
|
