The estimated cost of building sports facilities for the 2012
London Olympics has soared by about 40 percent, the British
government said on Tuesday.
Sports minister Tessa Jowell blamed higher steel prices and
transport costs for the rise to 3.3 billion pounds (US$6.26
billion) in the official estimate of the cost of building the
Olympic Park, the main complex for the London Games.
This stands 900 million pounds higher than the estimate given in
London's original. Some newspaper reports have said the games could
spiral to 10 billion pounds.
The British media has voiced increasing concern over the
escalating cost of the London Olympics after Jack Lemley resigned
last month as chairman of the body responsible for creating the
event’s infrastructure.
Lemley told a US newspaper that slow progress and budget
concerns were behind his decision.
Britain has a history of delays and cost overruns for major
projects such as the Millennium Dome, the now farcical center-piece
of Britain's millennial celebrations, and Wembley stadium.
Jowell insisted the project was under control and said
International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge had told her on
Friday that the IOC had "full confidence in the good progress of
the works".
IOC officials claimed London was two years ahead of where Sydney
was at an equivalent point of its preparations for the 2000
Olympics and three years ahead of Athens, which held the Games in
2004, she said.
The new estimate for the Olympic Park includes a 400 million
pound fee that will be paid to consultants responsible for ensuring
costs come in on budget, Jowell told a parliamentary committee.
Jowell said discussions were taking place within the government
on how to meet the increased costs. An earlier agreement had said
overspending would be financed by London taxpayers and from
national lottery profits.
The 3.3 billion pounds is only part of the total costs of
Britain's Olympic plans.
The original estimate did not include value added tax (VAT),
standing at 17.5 percent, and the money set aside for security in
the original budget was inadequate, Jowell said.
London won the right to stage the 2012 Olympics a day before
four British Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 people on the
London transport system on July 7 last year. The capital's police
chief had said the 2012 Olympics will be a "huge target" for
terrorists.
Jowell said she could not put a figure on security costs as
discussions between government and police were ongoing.
Government officials are also discussing creating a contingency
fund for the budget, over and above those contingency amounts
already provided for.
The figures also do not include the cost of a huge urban
regeneration scheme in east London that the Olympics is intended to
kick-start, including the building of about 40,000 homes.
Icelandic FA president Eggert Magnusson, whose takeover bid for
English soccer club West Ham United was accepted on Tuesday, said
the club could move into London's Olympic stadium after the 2012
Games. However, Jowell said West Ham had not contacted the
government on the issue.
(China Daily November 23, 2006)