Print

Mail

wiki links

Greece splurges on electronic security

Construction workers check the edges of the two massive arches that are part of the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday. The roof was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Construction work is likely to continue right up until opening day. PHOTO: AP

Athens is spending a small fortune on Olympic security so that its police will have the most modern equipment and technology available.

The question in Athens these days, however, is not whether Greece will have the newest security gadgets, but if security forces will have enough time to learn how to use them before the Aug. 13-29 Games.

The electronic security system for Athens has been touted as one of the most sophisticated ever assembled at a cost of more than US$312 million. It was supposed to be delivered on May 28, giving 4,000 security personnel at least two months of hands-on experience.

Like much to do with the Athens Games, things didn't go quite as planned.

"We will be ready by the end of June or beginning of July," Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis told AP.

The security contract was awarded one year ago to a consortium led by San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp, or SAIC, which had helped to secure the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

Feeling insecure * The security contract for the games was awarded one year ago to a consortium led by San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp * Greek worries about escalating costs had significantly delayed the contract, barely giving SAIC enough time to put the system together * Greece's total bill for providing security for the Olympics has surpassed US$1.2 billion

Greek worries about escalating costs had significantly delayed the contract, barely giving SAIC enough time to put the system together.

"The single biggest challenge is the time constraint," SAIC said at the time.

On June 2, SAIC vice president David Tubbs would not give an exact delivery date. He said only that the system will be ready by the Olympics.

"We and the government are working very hard to make certain that the system is completed, functional and available for use during the Olympics," Tubbs said.

The company has blamed delays on construction setbacks at sports venues such as the main Olympic stadium, which is still not ready.

The world has drastically changed since Athens was awarded the Olympics in 1997. After the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Greece went from being one of the safest countries in Europe to suddenly finding itself with a security bill that has surpassed US$1.2 billion.

"What has happened over the last number of years is that security planning and the security effort has come to the forefront. I don't think anybody wants to acknowledge that because you don't want it to take away from what the games are supposed to bring your country, but it is a fact of life," Tubbs said.

The price for security, already twice the original amount budgeted, includes the cost for 70,000 police and soldiers, new equipment -- from pistols to blimps -- and the electronic system that will bind it all together.

"Preparations for the Olympics is the most complex thing that I have ever seen, and it is not just security planning but it is all the effort that everybody puts in," Tubbs said.

Voulgarakis said Greece's high cost for security was something the world had to take into consideration with regard to the Olympics.

"The international community has to decide whether this celebration has to be kept or not. I believe it has to be kept because it is something universal, no matter the cost," Voulgarakis said.

After enduring years of construction delays and international criticism about the slow pace of preparations, Olympic organizers have now asked Athenians to at least put on a happy face for the world.

"These games should be the games of smiles and not of misery and complaint," Athens organizing committee president Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said.

After a meeting with Premier Costas Caramanlis, she said that all Greeks must "take a common course and work together in a joint effort. We must make this common effort visible because everyone outside of Greece is watching."

Her appeal came as Greeks have become increasingly vocal about both the cost of the Olympics and hassles caused by construction around Athens.

The finance minister recently complained that the cost of the games were higher than expected and the rewards less than Greece had hoped for. His comments came a few days after the minister of public works questioned if Greece should have bid for the games.

But Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said Greeks should "show that we are going forward with optimism and that we are ready. We should not give anyone a reason to complain or use an unfair description of our country."

At least one delayed project came one step closer to completion on Friday, with the final section of the main Olympic stadium roof being slowly pulled into place.

HOOP HAPPINESS

Officials from world basketball's governing body expressed satisfaction on Friday with the long-delayed Olympic venue to host the sport.

"It is a perfect building for basketball," FIBA spokesman Florian Wanninger said at the start of a three-day test of the 12,000-seat facility.

"I believe this is the most beautiful basketball building which exists in this country right now," he said.

The venue, a revamped hangar at Athens' former international airport, was hosting an international women's basketball tournament.

"We are very, very satisfied with the work," Wanninger said. "It is almost completed. There is some finishing work to be done."

Some temporary seats and some flooring remain to be put in place before the Aug. 13-29 Games.

"All the functional areas are basically done. It looks as if traffic flow is excellent. It was a very well thought out design," Wanninger said.

FIBA officials originally had doubts that the delayed venue would be ready for the test event.

"At a certain time I had some doubts ... The state it is now in was a big surprise for me," Wanninger said. "To be honest we could even start tomorrow with the games."
This story has been viewed 2265 times.