Greece primed for Games, but costs have run wild
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-08-06 06:11

Greece said on Wednesday it was ready to stage the Olympic Games but that years of delays and infighting had pushed up the cost of the huge enterprise beyond all expectations.

With only nine days to go before the August 13-29 Games, Greek officials rejoiced at the smooth implementation of their transport and security plans, but said costs had forced the country's 2004 budget deficit way over European Union limits.

A 24-hour strike by Athens hotel workers and tourist industry disappointment over poor hotel bookings further dampened enthusiasm for Greece's last-minute Olympic turnaround.

"The way things are going, the budget deficit is heading towards four per cent (of GDP), maybe a bit over," deputy Finance Minister Petros Doukas said. The EU's limit is three per cent.

Doukas said the 2004 cost of various Olympic projects would exceed three billion euros ($3.6 billion) compared to an original estimate of 1.4 billion euros.

The total cost of the Games will be six billion euros compared to 4.6 billion budgeted.

Regardless of the price, International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Jacques Rogge said on Wednesday the city was ready.

"I'm extremely glad I found a totally changed and new Athens. Athens is ready and I'm quite sure the athletes will have a fantastic Games," he told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis in Athens.

A Greek government Olympic co-ordination body said that all was well - Greece's 1 billion euro security plan was in place and operating smoothly while the public had welcomed the Games transport system.

Amidst the heightened security, Greek police said they were investigating a minor bomb blast that damaged the toilet of a building belonging to an Athens highway company. The building was not close to any Olympic venue.

The small explosion, which occurred early on Wednesday when the auxiliary building in the western Athens district of Acharnes was empty, baffled authorities, who did not receive any warning call or claim of responsibility.

"We are satisfied that the government has done everything that is needed and everything that is humanly possible for security," Rogge said.

Amid the heightened security concerns for the first Summer Olympics since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, two Mexican reporters sued the Greek Coast Guard, saying its officers beat them for filming the Olympic port of Piraeus.

The Greek government ordered an investigation and Olympic organizers said they regretted the incident.

'A great feat'

As well as the security plan, Greek officials said the rest of the Athens infrastructure was in place.

"We are ready to carry out an impressive games," said deputy Culture Minister Fani Palli Petralia.

But Greece's tourist industry complained on Wednesday that foreign arrivals had dropped by 12 per cent compared to last year and hoteliers were offering last-minute deals to fill rooms.

Athens hotel workers added to the city's woes by staging a 24-hour warning strike demanding better pay and threatening to extend it to the Olympics.

The birthplace of both the ancient and modern Olympics, Greece fought hard to convince the IOC it could handle the 2004 Games.

The smallest country to host a Summer Olympics since Finland in 1952, it wasted precious time on political infighting and bureaucracy and prompted stern warnings from the IOC.

Delays in building key venues and transport forced the government to pay contractors to work around the clock in order to finish on time.

"When you are under great pressure you are at the mercy of the construction industry," said Australian Olympic Committee chief John Coates.

Coates said Sydney, hosts of the much-praised 2000 Games, which cost Australia 5 billion Australian dollars (US$3.51 billion), had planned and started construction much earlier.

But he applauded the quality of the Greek venues.

"A lot of venues are better than they were at Sydney, they have been scaled bigger and better," Coates said. "The Olympic Village is certainly a better venue."

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