Building The 2012 London Olympics From Scratchcards
WEMBLEY – the new Wembley – is ready and one day so too will be the new Olympic complex in the East End of London. And Beau Bo D’Or has the pictures to give hope to one and all that it will be ready on time.
But it needs paying for. A huge sports stadium at the less salubrious end of London doesn’t build itself. The budget for the 2012 London Olympics has risen to £9.35bn, nearly four times the £2.4bn estimate when London’s bid succeeded.
Construction is now budgeted at £5.3bn. There is a £2.7bn “contingency fund”, in case builders fail to reach their targets. If they do, the workers can be assured that they will be well paid for extra work.
Do you think the construction companies will need to tap into this massive pot of spare cash?
Maybe. Just maybe. Try it with your loft extension. Tell the builder that if he fails to do the job on time and to budget, you have an extra, say, ten grand in your back pocket that he can have. Let us know what happens.
But the Olympics is a good cause. So an extra £675m will be squeezed from lottery funds – now £1 in every £5 of good cause money goes to the Olympics.
So dig deep. Then deeper. Buy one of our new Olympic scratchcards. Keep the flame alive…
It will happen. Here’s a reminder of how the new Wembley was once a dream…
Posted: 27th, March 2007 | In: Money Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
