Sunday, February 3, 2008

IOC Hopeful to Keep Air Pollution under Control

The preparation for the Beijing Olympics Games 2008 is now going on with full swing. However, the problems are coming one after another. Earlier, it was reported that construction workers were dead while working at the main stadium of the games. That was gone without anything being proven. Now, the latest problem is the concern over air pollution. The environmentalists are putting the issue forward in order make organizers aware regarding the issue.

However, Vice-chairman of IOC Coordination Commission, R. Kevan Gosper, has denied having any air pollution saying that Beijing authority is spending money to keep the air quality intact. He has also said that the concerns over air pollution have been raised many times in the past. However, the organizers got over the problems and the same will be applicable for the Beijing Olympics Games as well.

China Daily reported:

"Ever since I've been on the IOC: in the 1984 Los Angeles games, we were worried about pollution because they had few public transport and most were motor cars, and at the 1988 Seoul Games we were also worried because it was an industrial city," he said, adding that the similar worries emerged in the run up to the 2004 Athens games.

"The Beijing authorities have been spending a lot of money on air quality, both as part of Beijing's needs as well as the games' needs," said the Australian.