Sawt Falasteen - Deadlines loom for Milan's Olympic village as Winter Games near

Situated on the redeveloped old rail yard in the southern outskirts of Milan, the Olympic Village was officially presented on Tuesday following the completion of building works.

The organisers of the sprawling Milan-Cortina Olympics will take charge of the site on Wednesday, after which services including a gym, canteen and medical centre for 1,700 athletes and officials will have to be hastily put together.

Those facilities will be hosted on the ground floor of eight-storey blocks which contain a mix of single-bed and double-bed rooms that after the Games will become accommodation for a portion of Milan's large student population.

A source with knowledge of the construction project told AFP on Tuesday that the Milan-Cortina organisers "need to move fast" to ensure that everything is in place for the athletes with the Games beginning on February 6.

Developer Coima said during Tuesday's presentation that the building work was completed a month ahead of schedule at the end of June and cost 140 million euros, some 40 million euros over budget, but the source said there was no clear plan for the crucial facilities which need to be provided by the Games' organisers.

Asked by AFP, Milan-Cortina organisers said: "Even though some details like the fitting of the ground floor, still need to be completed, everyone is working hard to resolve those issues in the coming weeks."

The six grey blocks, which as yet do not match up with artist renderings of residents socialising in pedestrian-friendly green plazas, will be kept warm by heat pumps while electricity will be delivered via solar panels on the roofs.

AFP tested the electricity and water supply and both were functioning during a visit to a selection of rooms -- furnished with beds and desks and independent washing facilities -- which was organised for media after the presentation.

- A city for the rich? -

Once the Olympic and Paralympic Games are done the accommodation will go back into the hands of Coima, who then have four months to adapt the rooms for students before the start of the next academic year in September.

The average monthly rental cost of a bed is 864 euros, some 25 percent below market rate, but those prices have caused anger in a city where student accommodation is in short supply and rents have skyrocketed in recent years.

The developer is offering 450 beds at a "cut rate" of 592 euros a month, but that wasn't enough to stop Matteo Salvini, deputy prime minister and leader of the hard-right League party, from placing the blame on Milan's centre-left local government for not being "more demanding in their negotiations with the private sector".

Flanking the student housing will be a series of apartment blocks containing both 220 homes for sale and 100 social housing flats for rent, as well as green spaces.

"I don't want Milan to become a city that's only for the rich that skins the middle class," said Salvini, who was determined to criticise Milan's current mayor and political opponent Giuseppe Sala.

The Olympic village is located outside the city's main ring road in an area once famous for drug dealing and street prostitution but which, like much of Milan, has been swept by a wave of gentrification.

Practically next door is the Prada Foundation, an art and cultural centre created by the Italian fashion house, while the Porta Romana area immediately to the north-east is a nightlife hub.

D.Qudsi--SF-PST