Green Games on Red Light

Carlin Gerbich , August 30th, 2010

The lead up to any major international sporting event should be an exciting one but for India, October’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi have been undermined by allegations of bribery, corruption, bungled preparations, worker exploitation and construction chaos.

Despite government assurances the Games, dubbed the best and most environmentally friendly ever, will go ahead as planned, uncertainty over the quality of the venues, the level of security in the city and the apparent lack of phased planning and project management has cast a shadow over the event.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh stepped in a fortnight ago (14th August) as public outrage reached new heights after a report published by the government’s anti corruption watchdog, the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission), detailed serious flaws in the contract and tendering process and a litany of shoddy workmanship and unnecessary spending. Singh appointed 10 officials to oversee the remaining weeks of preparation to ensure construction would hit its deadlines.

According to a report carried by the Japan Times from its correspondent in Chennai, India, many venues have not been finished – and safety doubts remain over those that have been inaugurated.

The paper reported that the roof of the weight-lifting stadium, part of the main venue, began leaking hours after its inauguration; the ceiling of the SP Mukherjee Swimming Complex came crashing down and a swimmer was injured; while the roof at the Yamuna Sports Complex collapsed.

Other reports claim that many of the venues still resemble construction sites, that city infrastruture projects promised for the Games have not been finished, and that constant missed deadlines have placed the Games in a precarious position.

However, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell visited Games venues last week and claimed that while there was a lot of detail work left to be done, work was in hand.

“All competition venues are complete for all practical purposes,” Fennell said. “There is some site work, outside appearance, landscaping and cleaning to be done with great urgency but this will be completed very shortly.

“This is not strange or unique to Delhi. Once they are done and finishing touches are given, we are going to have world class venues here.”

The bid and delays
New Delhi won its bid to host the games over Hamilton, Ontario, in November 2003, giving the city just under seven years to prepare for the event. The plans were ambitious: the city was to build and renovate 17 sporting venues in six venue clusters plus five stand-alone venues.

On top of that, 26 training centres also needed to be constructed and 16 upgraded, while a detailed list of city-wide improvements to roads, public transport and other infrastructure was also drawn up.

The initial Bid Book Budget set the cost of the games at $422 million which, according to planners, would be enough to renovate existing stadiums, build new venues and stage the Games.

Of the $233.4 million earmarked for capital expenditure, $23.2 million was set aside for the renovation of existing stadia, $20.9 million for new stadia and a bulk ($163.8 million) for the athletes’ village residential units, to be sold after the games to recoup some of the cost of staging the event.

The Queen’s Baton relay, included in the overall budget, was estimated at $20 million. The Games, it was anticipated in 2003, would generate a net profit of almost $190 million, which would then be poured back in to the community and local government projects.

Since the original budget was drafted, however, the costs have spiralled out of control - and it seems that no-one is sure just how much has been spent, and at what cost to the city.

A report by India’s Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) entitled Preparedness for the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010, published over a year ago, put the cost of hosting the games, creating the venues and developing city infrastructure at around $2.7 billion. That figure excludes improvements to the city airport, and the Delhi Metro system.

However, an independent report titled The 2010 Commonwealth Games: Whose Wealth, Whose Commons?, commissioned by India’s Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), claims that spending on sports infrastructure and facilities alone has shot up to $730 million – more than 16 times the original total, and almost double that of the entire original budget.

The report, highly critical of the decision to host an expensive international sporting event in a city wracked with poverty, also stated that the true cost of the Games lies somewhere between the official figure of $2.7 billion and independent estimates of $6.5 billion.

The original bid document stated that Game preparations would follow a seven-year phased approach in which organisers would plan (January 2004 - May 2006), create (June 2006 - May 2008), deliver (May 2008 - December 2010) and conclude (December 2010 - March 2011) the Games. However, the CAG report found little evidence the plan was put in to place during the early stages, which had then cascaded into construction delays.

Issuing of tenders has been a rather muddy affair. Construction on the venue for the main opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the track and field competitions, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, was delayed because tenders were called before technical plans were sanctioned.

Work on the weight-lifting auditorium started before drawings or site plans were drafted and approved. The selection of consultants for the Yamuna Sports complex, which will host the table tennis and archery events, was delayed by 11 months, while architectural drawings were finalised. Of the 19 venues under development, 13 of them were listed as “at risk” of not being finished in time for the Games by the CAG in its report.

Since then, work has progressed rapidly. Three venues most at risk, the Jawarlal Nehru Stadium, the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Complex and the Games Village, have all been inaugurated by Games officials.

However, while the field event areas seem to have hit their deadlines, work on installing ancillary services, MEP works, television broadcast cables and a myriad of other jobs have yet to be completed.

Poor quality
The state of the Games preparation hit headlines early August with the publication of a report by the Central Vigilance Commission, the government’s anti-corruption body.

The report stated that almost all contractors had “considered inadmissible factors to jack-up the reasonable price to justify award of work at quoted rates citing urgent/emergency circumstances”.

Allegations of bid tampering, tender favouritism and other underhand tactics were levelled at contractors by the CVC report – but the revelation that substandard materials had been used in the construction of some of the venues, including the main Games stadium, alarmed Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper the most.

The CVC report findings revealed that standard cement mix had been used instead of Ready Mix on some projects, while poor quality rebar with substandard anti-corrosion treatments that “was coming out even with a mild rubbing with hands” was found on site.

Hooper said: “Any charges of corruption must be properly investigated. But with eight weeks to go before the Games, this is a massive distraction. We need everyone focused on delivering the Games.”

Hooper told reporters: “Clearly the CVC report is implying that substandard materials have been used on some of the venues which obviously creates concern for everybody. People’s fears shift from security to safety.

“Certainly, what we’ve said is that we are very concerned about the report, that it’s very important that the organising committee that as it takes possession of the venues from government agencies that they are given appropriate written evidence, and even an indemnity to the extent that these venues are indeed fit for purpose and have passed all the regulatory requirements,” Hooper said.

Corruption
Prime minister Singh said any officials found guilty of corruption will face “severe and exemplary punishment”. His comments were backed up by Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who told reporters: “There has been lots of criticism of preparation for the Games. If there is corruption, we will find out who is responsible and take stern action against them, whoever they might be whether a central government, Delhi government or any other official.”

Public outrage over the matter has been vociferous, and the HLRN says the true cost of the event, the social and financial legacy they may leave behind and the true value of the venues post-event is yet to be determined.

For the short term, however, that doesn’t matter. There will be time for investigations, studies, repercussions and possible criminal proceedings after the event but, for now, New Delhi needs all hands on deck over the next five weeks.

There is a mountain of work to get through, and an immovable deadline to hit. Delhi needs to ensure its infrastructure can handle the influx of athletes and international visitors due in the city in October, and that it is able to pull off the kind of Commonwealth Games that it set out to accomplish seven years ago.

Early warnings
New Zealand had initially planned to bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, but decided against it because the projected US$420 million loss the country would incur was too much for the population to absorb. A second bid for the southern city of Christchurch was also shelved.

Even after tourism revenues had been included, the loss to the New Zealand economy would be too great a burden for the taxpayer to bear, prime minister John Key was quoted as saying. Trinidad and Tobago also considered bidding for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, but eventually decided against it on financial grounds.

Two current bids for the 2018 Games are on the table: Australia’s Gold Coast and the Sri Lankan city of Hambantota.

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Worker exploitation
As well as a comprehensive catalogue of claimed corruption, the Commonwealth Games have come under fire for alleged abuses of human rights relating to its labour force.

A study by Building and Woodworkers International estimated that 300,000 workers would be needed in Delhi over a three year period, while another study claimed that 450,000 contract daily wage workers would be required.

Other reports, included in the HLRN’s study, claimed that none of the workers employed on the Games projects are paid the legally stipulated minimum wage ($3 for eight hours work).

Unskilled workers earn between $1.80 - $2 a day while skilled workers earn $2.50 - $2.80 instead of the $3.40 they’re legally entitled to. Around 5% of the workforce are women, and they are paid even less than the men.

Labourers work a seven-day week with no time off and are paid at normal rates. On top of that, workers are not given safety equipment (helmets, shoes) and even if they are handed out, wages are docked for the gear – which is illegal, according to Indian law.

There have been dozens of worker deaths on work sites since preparations began. Officially, 49 workers have died while working on Games venues, though some say that figure is much higher.

Most labourers live in tents at the construction sites because labour camp conditions are appalling. At one site, six to eight labourers share a 10ft square brick hut with a tin and asbestos roof. There is no power, ventilation or space to cook.

There are no toilets and, at one site, an open tank with partition serves as the bathroom for men and women.

In March 2008 more than 100 workers died of meningitis linked to the unhygienic living conditions, while other estimates put the deaths of workers through poor hygiene at a further 70. The region also suffered a recent outbreak of dengue fever.