Participants And Parents Complain About Bathrooms To Cleaning International Scout Jamboree Locations

JAKARTA - The 25th World Scout Jambore which took place in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, has received complaints from participants and their parents from around the world, assessing that the organizers are not ready and unprofessional.

Complaints have escalated over a wide range of issues, including failure to protect participants from heat waves, lack of sanitation facilities as well as communication and sanitation issues.

One of the participants told The Korea Times on Thursday that toilets were not enough to accommodate more than 43,000 participants.

Meanwhile, bathing facilities for adult men are still not ready, although three days have passed since the largest international youth camp began on Tuesday. He also said the facilities were dirty and the trash bins overflowed.

"Each subcamp should have sanitation facilities for male, female, non-binary and disabled participants," said a participant from a European country who asked not to be named, reported the Korea Times on August 3.

"It's the third day here and we don't have a bathroom for adult men. In addition, the facilities are very bad. Dirty, full of insects and ticks," he said.

He added that there was no right way to clean the dishes and dispose of the rest of the food, so the trash can overflowed.

"I personally worry that the epidemic is only a matter of time," he said.

It is known, the World Scout Jambore which is held every four years, this time it is held at an 8.84 square kilometer camp on the west coast of Negei Ginseng.

The event was held on the ups and downs of a vast reclamation, with temperatures rising to nearly 35 degrees Celsius in the region during the day, temperatures inside the tent much hotter, leaving many participants behind to find other places to offer shade.

Organizers said they had prepared 1,720 sun protection sites and 7.4-kilometer long tunnels surrounded by plants so participants could avoid heat. However, they did little to prevent hot-related diseases.

Seventeen medical facilities, including five that offer emergency medical services, operate at camps to treat patients. However, according to the interviewed participants, those who are sick experience communication problems, as many medical personnel there do not speak English.

"Talking about disease has to go through Google translate," he said.

Apart from participants, parents also complain and worry about the situation at the camp.

"My daughter is there now and telling us it's a shame, things are out of control, there's no food, there's no way to protect them from the sun," she wrote on social media.

"Don't forget the overflowing trash cans, the watery toilets and the showers," he said.

According to Choi Chang-haeng, secretary-general of the 25th World Scout Jambore Organizing Committee Saemangeum, the committee will add 30 doters and 60 nurses to handle possible patient increase.

"We have reduced or suspended outdoor activities, turned most of the activity indoors to prevent hot-related diseases," he wrote.

The committee also pledged to shorten the interval between transport from 30 minutes at the time, this to 15 to 20 minutes to reduce outdoor waiting time.

Regarding sanitation issues, Lee Ki-soon, deputy minister of gender equality and family, said, during a media briefing, "We will deploy 240 more cleaners to clean toilets and other facilities every hour, and improve pest control."