Don’t blame the OC, says Kalmadi

The 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) said on Sunday no one should blame them for non-compliance of safety regulations as highlighted in the Central Vigilance Committee report.  Reacting to Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell’s interview that appeared in HT on
Sunday, OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi said, it was wrong to blame OC for delays and controversies involving venue renovations and constructions.

"We are just a monitoring agency and not a construction agency," said Kalmadi on Sunday.

“We should not be blamed for delays in acquiring fire, health and safety certificates for the venues. These should be taken care of by the agencies involved with infrastructure.”

The CGF chief was clearly worried about these aspects and had told HT on Saturday, “By the time of my next visit we have asked the Organising Committee to secure a report from each of the government agencies responsible for the delivery of venues that provides confirmation that all regulatory approvals including fire, health and safety have been secured for each venue.”

Kalmadi said, “It shows we were not responsible for acquiring the certificates.”

At the  same time the Organising Committee’s chairman also assured that every detail of the venues will be taken care of and everything will be in place before the Games begin. Kalmadi felt it was needless to get into all these controversies at this moment, as “our endeavour should be to host a successful Games as stressed by Fennell”.