A senior Greek government official on Thursday questioned whether it was right for Athens to be hosting the 2004 Olympics, given the amount of work involved.
Addressing a parliamentary committee overseeing the games, Giorgas Souflias, the Public Works minister, said he wondered if Greece was best suited to organise the mammoth event in light of the major infrastructure projects.
”I question if our country should have taken over the organisation of the games, to get involved,” he said in the first admission of its kind.
Awarded the games in 1997, Athens has used the opportunity to press ahead with a facelift. But political bickering, bureaucracy and archeaological setbacks resulted in much of the construction being delayed until 2000. Souflias, a civil engineer in charge of public works since the electoral victory of the centre-right New Democracy party in March, rejected fears that venues and transit projects would not be ready.
All, including a tram and suburban railway line, would be up and running for the games, which run from August 13 to 29.
”I am not concerned about not succeeding, but allow some people to be troubled about whether the games should have happened,” the minister quipped.
His stance came amid sudden, and growing, praise for Athenian efforts to mount a safe and successful Olympics, the first summer games since the September 11 attacks.
Ending a major conference in the capital, security chiefs from the 202 participating countries — including Australian officials who had questioned security arrangements — agreed that the Greek authorities were doing ”everything possible” to safeguard the games.
Greece, one of the EU’s poorest members, is spending about £660m on the biggest security operation in the history of the Olympics.
The public order minister, Giorgos Voulgarakis, told delegates that Greek authorities would ”automatically shoot down” any renegade plane attempting to stage a September 11-style attack.
International criticism generated by the delays, and fears of overpriced accommodation, have also resulted in slow bookings for hotels.
”It’s a myth to say there’s not enough room and that hotels are too expensive,” the 2004 executive Vassilis Niadas said. ”Rooms are still available on four of the eight cruise ships, in hotels, and private homes.” – Guardian Unlimited