MATT DRUDGE // DRUDGE REPORT 2002�
Beijing Mayor Vows to Hold a 'Clean Olympics'
Fri Mar 08 2002 12:14:11 ET
BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua)--Beijing Mayor Liu Qi said he was confident that there will be no
scandals or corruption in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
Liu said that Beijing has made a commitment to the international community to hold a ;best
Olympic Games'' ever in history, which of course must be a ;clean Olympics''.
He said that the city will establish a strict management and supervision mechanism to avoid
corruption and scandals in preparations for the Games. To secure an efficient, clean and open
environment, a special supervision committee has already been established to clamp down on
corruption in the whole process of preparations for the Olympic Games and guarantee the
quality of all Olympics projects, said Liu, who is attending the on-going annual session of the
Ninth National People's Congress (NPC).
He disclosed that a special department has been set up inside the Organizing Committee of the
2008 Olympic Games, which is entitled to supervise and audit the bidding and management of
Olympic projects, and the utilization of project funds.
Construction of Olympic projects will open for public bidding worldwide, which allows fair
competition between domestic and overseas companies, Liu said.
In terms of personnel, Liu stressed, Beijing will get rid of nepotism and employ outstanding
people through public competition.
''If necessary, foreign experts will also be invited to serve on the Organizing Committee,'' he
said.
According to Liu, Beijing will publicize the whole process of preparation work on the Internet
for people of the whole nation to know. Earlier reports said that a total of 1.65 billion U.S.
dollars needs to be collected to finance the country's first ever Olympics.
Apart from a limited pool of government spending, most of the funds to finance the summer
games will be raised through market-oriented channels, and a detailed funding plan is
expected to be released soon, reports say.
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