CWG Village: Dogs, snakes, unfinished work cause concern

NEW DELHI - Despite frantic efforts by the Commonwealth Games organisers to improve faciliities at the Games Village, stray dogs, last minute work and the discovery of a snake in one of the aprartments Sunday drew howls of protests from the visiting teams.

Some 60 members of the Scotland team and a 50-strong Welsh contingent finally moved into the Games Village, but expressed displeasure at the unfinished facilities.

Scotland’s chef de mission Jon Doig, who had arrived here last week, said things should have turned out better as India had seven years to prepare for the Oct 3-14 event.

“We had arrived here earlier and had it not been the case, our athletes would have had a tough time in the Games Village. Since we arrived here earlier, we could identify the problems at the right time. But there are still a few things that are needed to be fixed,” he said.

The Scottish advance team has been in the forefront in criticising the unhygienic conditions at the Village earlier this week.

Another team official said stray dogs continue to pose a danger to the athletes in the Village.

“We have never seen stray dogs in any other Games Village. This is very strange for us and it poses a threat for the athletes as well,” the official said.

A top South African diplomat warned his country’s athletes would not put up in the village after a snake was discovered in one of the rooms reserved for them.

An infuriated South African High Commissioner Harris Mbulelo Mejeke said the athletes will not stay in the Village until everything is put in place.

“A snake can be a threat to the lives of our athletes. Very disappointing. Basically, the basement was full of water and the staircase was also damp. If snakes are found we can’t ask our athletes to stay in such dangerous situations,” Mejeke told reporters.

In fact, diplomats of Africa’s Commonwealth nations Sunday said there was some improvement in the facilities for their players in the Village, but they will take a final decision on their teams’ full-strength arrival only after another inspection Monday evening.

Diplomats from all the participating Commonwealth nations were Saturday taken for a visit to the Games Village, but the African countries had complained that accommodation for their players was not clean and up to par, as compared to that of other major nations.

The African diplomats had then gone on another visit to see the living areas for their teams Sunday evening.

Even so, Trinidad and Tobago officials praised the facilities, but said their team would stay in hotels for the time being as a lot of finishing work remained.

“The facilities are excellent, but there is still a lot of work to do. That is the reason why we have opted to stay in hotels rather than the Village. This is very much similar to a big Indian wedding. But what bothers us are the mosquitoes. There is a fear of dengue,” said John Melow, a team official.

Nearly 1,100 athletes and team officials, from Norfolk Islands, Canada, Kenya, Nigeria, Scotland, Canada, Tanzania, Lesotho, Rwanda, Wales, England, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Bermuda, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the British Virgin Islands arrived here Sunday.