New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) After New Zealand, it is now Scotland that has hit back at the ‘filthy living conditions’ at the Commonwealth Games Village here saying it was ‘unsafe and unfit for human habitation.’
Team Scotland Tuesday were extremely unhappy with the block in the Games Village that was allotted to them and after complaining to the Organising Committee (OC) they were reallocated to finished accommodation.
Team Scotland in a statement said they are currently still planning to take part in the Games but have warned they ‘will not compromise on issues of health, safety and security’.
‘The athletes’ village is not only at the heart of any Commonwealth Games, but is fundamental to the staging of the event. The specification for the village set by Delhi 2010 promised to be of the highest standard, surpassing anything that had gone before,’ a Commonwealth Games Scotland statement read.
‘However, on arrival in Delhi on Thursday last week (September 16), Team Scotland officials found that building works had fallen seriously behind schedule and that its allocated accommodation blocks were far from finished and in their view, unsafe and unfit for human habitation.
‘After representation to the organising committee (OC), Scotland was reallocated finished accommodation, but which still required serious cleaning and maintenance to bring it up to the necessary Games-ready standards.
‘This has now been largely addressed by the Scotland team management, cleaning the seven-story tower block from top to bottom themselves with assistance from Delhi Games volunteers. However, many of the other blocks in the Residential Zone still remain in a highly unsatisfactory state.’
The statement continued: ‘During the last few days, despite repeated promises, only slow progress has been made, to the extent that there are now grave concerns as to whether the village as a whole will meet the health and safety standards required to host all 71 CGAs and their 6,500 team members, which are due to start arriving on September 23.
‘Yesterday (Monday) in Delhi, Team Scotland chef de mission Jon Doig met jointly with his counterparts and the High Commissioners of their respective countries to try and bring pressure to bear on the Delhi 2010 organising committee through the Indian Government, to respond immediately to address the issues.
‘Representation was also made to the Commonwealth Games Federation to make a realistic decision as to at what point and under what conditions they would determine whether the Games will be able to go ahead should the village issues not be resolved. Commonwealth Games Scotland is pleased that the Commonwealth Games Federation has now responded and formally written to the Indian Cabinet Secretary to express their concern and to request immediate action.’
