|
UN's Ban in Shirt-Sleeves, a Cooling Room Next
Door, Asked about Double-Standards by Fox
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
August 1 -- Television camera crews
were waiting for the UN's Ban Ki-moon on Friday morning; he showed off
for them
a short sleeved shirt and lack of tie. To set an example, he said, of
action
for climate change, the UN will raise the temperature in the building
by five
degrees. A photo opportunity was scheduled for 9:15 in Ban's office,
but upon
arrival the Press was told there would not be enough space. It was said
Ban
would take no questions, that no reporters should go upstairs.
Ultimately
questions were allowed, by CNN, Fox and Inner City Press.
The
Fox TV reporter
demanded that Ban address the "double standard" in the cooling of
rooms on the 38th floor. Ban's office felt warm, but a conference room
next door
was, the Fox team estimated, closer to 60 degrees. Ban said, "I have
been
sometimes very warm in this room, I have to switch to the next
conference
room." To some, this meant that he will have his own cooling spot
upstairs, which Fox called a meat locker, while other UN staff,
particularly in
rooms facing the sun and East River, sweat through August. The Staff
Union, in
a July 31 meeting, questioned whether Ban had consulted with the UN
medical
service.
UN's Ban and "two advisors," cooling room and
Fox' double-standards question not shown
Inner City
Press asked Ban if he is encouraging Presidents like George Bush and
Nicolas
Sarkozy to follow his lead. "I don't have any control over member
states," he said. "They are sovereign member states... I will be
happy if member states follow." In fact, South Korea and Japan, for
example, already have such programs. Ban added that when he met with
Japan's
foreign minister, they did so without ties.
The Press
was then escorted down to the UN's third and fourth sub-basements,
control and
machine room. One staffer said, "This won't really reduce greenhouse
gasses, but it might save us money." He said that under Kofi Annan,
something similar was tried, in order to save money. When Inner City
Press
asked how much money had been saved, he said to ask the spokesperson's
office.
Inner City Press did, at Friday's briefing, and will publish the answer
when
received.
And at 6:16 p.m.
on Friday the following arrived --
"The UN introduced a
cost-savings program in 2002 in response to significant budget cuts
made by the
General Assembly at the time. The program included the total shutdown
of the
fan system every night after 6 p.m. There were other measures that were
introduced,
such as reduced service to the conference rooms and reduction in mail
service.
Most of the services were later restored. No specific savings figure is
available."
We can
further report that, at least for today, complaints were becoming
widespread
about being too hot, about whether the savings were worth it and, yes,
about what
some called Ban Ki-moon's cool room on the 38th floor...
Watch this site.
And
this --
|
