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Secret report on Olympic venues 'is a whitewash'
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent19.11.08
OLYMPICS chiefs are under pressure to publish a confidential report on Games venues amid claims it has been a "whitewash".
The study by accountancy firm KPMG considered moving three temporary venues to save costs but is thought to have recommended they should not be relocated.
The London Assembly will today demand to know the reasons for the KPMG verdict on the venues -the equestrian in Greenwich, the shooting in Woolwich and basketball in the Olympic Park.
"We want to make the KPMG report public because it has been said that it was a whitewash and we're sure that the environmental concerns were not taken into account," Jenny Jones, Green Party member of the London Assembly, said. "Temporary venues such has Greenwich and the basketball have little value for Londoners."
Ms Jones is expected to ask Locog chiefs whether they plan any further scaling down of the Games, especially at venues which leave no legacy.
They will also be quizzed about security, disabled access and the lessons learned from visiting the Beijing Olympics.
Reader views (1)
The whole of the Olympics is a whitewash! A complete
waste of money, which the taxpayer will be funding
for decades to come. Does anyone (apart from the
deluded fools, pompous, arrogant, ego-maniac politicians
and athletes, who wanted them here) really believe
that thousands of long-term jobs will be created once the the event is over? I seem to recall similar predictions
regarding the Millennium Dome. What happened to all
those jobs then? The people of east London must be
wondering when all these mythical jobs are going to
appear!
I hope the whole thing is a complete shambles.
Unfortunately the people responsible for getting us
this money grabbing monstrosity will have retired
by then, no doubt with honours, such as knighthoods,
OBE's, CBE's etc.
- Lb, Bromley
