Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) With 151 days left for the Commonwealth Games, the Co-ordination Commission (CoCom) of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) after its last round of meeting here said it is happy with the progress but singled out some key challenges for the Organising Committee, including completion of some venues and security before the Oct 3-14 event.
The COCOM, chaired by CGF treasurer Austin Sealy, said that 70 critical issues listed in December have now been reduced to just 38.

“We are extremely happy to be back here and are through with our seventh and final meeting. Certainly the progress that we have noticed since our previous visit in December last year is remarkable. But still a lot of work is to be done. There is quite a bit of work to be undertaken by Suresh Kalmadi (organising committee chairman) and his team,” said Sealy.

The Barbadian said that major areas of concerns are construction of the Games Village, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, venue for opening and closing ceremony, and the swimming complex.

“These delays have the knock-on effect and hamper the organising committee’s planning and implementation for final, overlay, staff training, rehearsal and stimulation. It is imperative that everything be done to accelerate work and that the agencies responsible for venue delivery cooperate fully with the Organising Committee to ensure the final planning for handover and operations,” he said.

Sealy also said the CGF will work closely with the Organising Committee, Delhi Police and the government to monitor the security arrangements.

“We must say that we are happy with security, but even the Times Square is not safe. So we can’t take anything for granted,” he said.

Sealy also said he was happy with the sponsorship money raised for the Commonwealth Games.

“The sponsorship deal has not only crossed what we got from Melbourne but also our expected target,” he said.