Delegate
Lock-Out -- It Could Happen
WSSD Bursting at the Seams
By Thalif Deen
The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) is not
only making history, but is also in danger of bursting at
its seams.
UN Spokeswoman Sue Markham told reporters that as of yesterday
the total head count had reached over 15,800 and rising. The
participants include delegates, representatives of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and the media.
With 190 countries participating in the summit -- along with
104 world leaders -- the WSSD will make history because it
will witness "the biggest turnout ever for a UN conference",
Markham said.
Only five countries -- Chad, Nauru, St Vincent and the Grenadines,
San Marino and Turkmenistan -- are no shows at the summit.
But the standing room-only crowd has created logistical problems
for the host government and the local fire department. The
main convention centre can only hold up to 7,000 because of
structural problems and fire department regulations. So far
the number of delegates registered exceeds 7,000. But as long
as all 7,000 do not turn up at the same time, the convention
centre is in no danger of collapsing.
"We hope we don't reach that point," Markham told
reporters yesterday.
But it may be a totally different story next week when heads
of state and heads of government turn up, along with their
king-sized entourages.
The U.N. Secretariat apparently did not know about the capacity
of the building until recently.
The important question is: Will delegates be shut out of
the meetings next week if they are clocked at over 7,000 while
walking into the building?
And more importantly, did South Africa warn the United Nations
about this limitation when it vigorously campaigned against
Indonesia to win U.N. approval to host the summit in Johannesburg?
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