An annual report released Thursday by London 2012 shows the cost of the Olympic venues has increased by 100 million pounds, with the cost of the Olympic stadium up by almost 50 million pounds or nearly 10 per cent.
The stadium, aquatics centre, velodrome and other venues have risen by almost 100 million pounds in the last year.
Officials reportedly say suppliers are holding the Games to ransom because of a lack of competitors when contracts were put out to tender.
The largest increase was to the Olympic stadium which shot up from 525 million pounds to 547 million pounds, reports the Daily Mail, due to amendments to the roof. The bill for the aquatics centre is to increase by five million pounds to 251 million pounds – 37 million pounds more than estimated, while the budget for the velodrome soared to 105 million pounds due to more complex foundations being laid and problems with contamination.
According to the Daily Mail costs for venues outside the Olympic Park are also projected to rise by 24 million pounds.
The increased costs to the aquatics centre were partly because of the “potential scope change such as additional athlete facilities and increased in scope to allow for enhanced community use”.
The report stresses that savings have been made elsewhere. It says “in a program of this size it is inevitable that there will be upwards and downwards movements within the funding package over the life of the program”.
According to accountants, the “anticipated final cost” of construction will be 7,413 billion pounds.
