7:18 a.m. December 27, 2006
LONDON – Budget issues affecting the London 2012 Olympics will be resolved early in 2007, organizers said Wednesday. The British government is expected to pass its first Olympic budget soon. It will be closely scrutinized because of the fallout from key engineer Jack Lemley's resignation from the group responsible for building the infrastructure for the games in mid-October.
“Rigorous cost management is a fundamental pillar of this project,” London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and Olympic Delivery Authority chairman Roy McNulty said in a joint New Year message, adding that they were confident that the issues would be resolved shortly.
“We must not lose sight of the wider benefits of this project. It is not simply about cost. It is also about value and ambition.”
Lemley said he resigned as chairman of the ODA because of political infighting and construction projects appearing likely to cost more than expected.
Lemley claimed Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell knew of the potential $1.95 billion additional tax bill that could affect the games, months before she confirmed it in an address to a parliamentary committee on Nov. 21.
Then, Jowell said infrastructure costs had risen by $1.76 billion from the $4.6 billion figure quoted in the bid. The final budget hasn't been formulated yet, but some British lawmakers have speculated the total cost could reach more $15.6 billion.
Coe and McNulty said 2006 had been a year of great progress and left the organizations in “great shape” for next year.
“This project is all about good planning,” they said. “By planning games and legacy together now, we are making sure that we only build permanent venues if there is a long term legacy use. We can also make the most of the regeneration opportunity winning the games has given us.”
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