Americans complaining of 'refugee camp'

THE influential USA Today is carrying stories about the 'refugee camp' on the Paddington Arm caused by boaters being ousted from their normal moorings around the Olympics site.

It pointed out that 'Owners of hundreds of boats were told that for a 10 weeks period starting before the Olympics and ending just after them, they must vacate an exclusion zone surrounding the Olympic Park, unless they pay mooring fees that run about $75 a week for a standard boat', Alan Tilbury tells us.

Lack of water

As was published in narrowboatworld, it pointed out the lack of water, quoting boaters, such as Mike Wells, who told 'While they're pandering to VIPs, they're letting down our community'.

Continuous cruisers were also mentioned, and it is here that is was stated that 'dozens of the boats that would normally be wandering London's canals are jammed together in what residents refer to as the boat refugee camp a few miles upstream from the Olympic Stadium'.

However, it rather let the cat out of the bag by quoting other continuous cruisers complaining they had much father to get to work and to schools, showing that they are not continuous cruisers.

The cost

In referring to the problem, the cost to Canal & River Trust of sprucing-up the waterways for the Olympics was revealed by Fran Read who told USA Today:

"It's unfortunate the Olympics means there's going to be some temporary disruption, but in the long term, hopefully everyone will see the benefits that the Olympics have brought." Some $100 million have been spent on improving the waterways around the Olympic Park."