New Delhi, October 12: Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Michael Fennell on Monday said “time would be the enemy” in preparing for the 2010 New Delhi Games and announced that a high-powered tenchnical committee would monitior the monthly progress of work.
After six days of inspecting the venues and the Games Village, Fennell said that all the members of the CGF after Monday’s General Assembly were convinced that the infrastructure would be ready in time for the necessary overlay installations and test events.
However, Fennell also said that there still remained a lot of “areas of concerns”, specially at the operational level, and asked Organising Committee (OC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi to overhaul the procurement process.
“Two years ago, I had told the OC that there was not much time left. With one year to go for the Games, I say time is your enemy, but together we can defeat it and I emphasise we can do it.”
“Every single day is critical and every hour vital. It is in the spirit of togetherness that we will move forward hand in hand to the success of the Games,” Fenell told a packed press conference after the conclusion of the General Assembly.
“CGF will appoint a high-level technical review panel. The panel will comprise of a chairman and other members will be experts of their respective fields. The panel will come and meet every month. It will monitor and assist in the evaluation of all areas that we feel need attention,” Fennell said.
“The panel will be empowered to call in other technical experts and to meet Commonwealth Games representatives.”
“The panel will establish timeline and report monthly in an open and transparent fashion to all stakeholders, the Prime Minister of India, the government of Delhi, organising Committee and the CGF.” he added.
“By having this review board report in the public domain, all involved with the Commonwealth Games can gain confidence that Delhi will be ready by September next year,” Fennell said.
Fennell also said the review panel is not the only answer and the coordination commission will continue to visit Delhi and by that time the Organising Committee should address all the key areas.
“The review committee will start operating from January because we have to select the members with due care.”
“Another very important meeting of chefs de mission will take place. They will be checking venues and other things so that they can prepare the teams.”
Fennell, who was critical of the preparation of the Games last month, said he was happy to see the progress made in such a short period.
“I said last month that particular concerns remain on all operations at procurement level.”
“Since I have raised the matter, the international experts have been appointed in the last few weeks. There will be more experts who will be appointed in the coming weeks, related to ticketing, village administration, spectators, support and logistic operations.”
“This is a big step forward and I appreciate the action that has followed the letter to the OC. This should be maintained without any hitch in the coming months.”
Fennell said that in the past few days the delegates have embarked in a comprehensive review at different level and had meetings with OC.
“I also met the sports minister who met on behalf of the Prime Minister, and we had general assembly and executive board meeting. The delegates were given an opportunity to visit venues and get a first hand report of the status,” Fennell said.
“We feel that the venues will be ready in time. The deadlines for the venues have already been reset and they cannot afford any more slippage. It can be done.”
Fennell also said that he was happy with the security and hoped that the Games would be held in a safe and secured environment.
“During this visit we have also witnessed the commitment for security by the relevant authorities. I think everyone at the General Assembly here felt that they have been operating in a safe and secured environmnt and it could be extended to the Games itself,” he said.
The Jamaican also said that security will always be a top priority as security requirements and challenges are changing everyday.
“A second International Security Conference will be held in June 2010 to give a chance to review the security arrangements and CGF’s own security will continue to monitor the progress,” he said.
—IANS