XXVIII Olympic Games in Athens, Greece-Security, Athens' top priority |10 August 2004

IT was not a nightmare to enter the Olympic Games Village on Sunday morning, as one had to go through a lot of security procedures. But all this is in line with the organisers' tough security measures for the athletes, officials, dignitaries and VIPs at these Games.

Seychellois athletes who have settled in the massive Games Village looked very relaxed on Sunday. Judoka Francis Labrosse, who trained in England for a month before joining the team in Athens, was walking around with Seychelles Judo Federation chairman Cedric Thomas.

As for 400m runner Evans Marie, who had followed a week-long training camp in France alongside some top one-lap specialists, he was on his way to the gym for
a workout. He was accompanied by his coach Joseph Adam, himself a former Olympian.

The Games Village, consists of 366 buildings of 2,266 apartments. It is built at the foot of Parintha mountains and overlooks a great part of the city of Athens.

On Sunday, after a presentation to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board, Athens Olympic Games Organising Committee (Athoc) president Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki had this to say: "Today we had the opportunity to welcome IOC president (Jacques) Rogge and the IOC executive board in Athens, that has truly become an Olympic City, once again. After four years of hard work we have come to this moment, where there are five more days to go and we are ready. This was my report: we are ready. Our venues are ready. The Athens 2004 people are ready. The tram, the metro, the light rail and the Olympic lanes are up and running. The athletes of the world are training in our venues. Athens is proudly wearing our Olympic colours.

Our top priority is being implemented: the most comprehensive, best staffed and best funded security operation in the history of the Olympic Games is in place. The Greek people are determined to make these Games a success - and a celebration. We invite the world to discover the true meaning and spirit of the Olympic tradition, and the new Greece that this week has the honour of welcoming the Olympic Games back home. We have five days left until the cauldron is lit at the Olympic Stadium and we are ready."

Greece, the smallest Summer Games host since Helsinki, Finland, in 1952, has even introduced Olympic lanes to ease up traffic on busy roads. Not a single driver is
allowed to leave the slow-moving regular lane to get ahead by using the designated Olympic lane. At a cost estimated between US $7 billion and US $11 billion, Athens has all but finished what Athoc president Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki called, "running a marathon at a sprinter's pace. " Over Athens, there is a Swiss-run surveillance blimp, with cameras constantly monitoring the area. About 70,000 Greek police, emergency and military personnel are part of a security force being backed by aircraft and other personnel and material from NATO and special forces from the U.S.
The security effort is estimated to cost 1 billion Euros, or about $1.3 billion, double what originally was budgeted and four times that of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Surveillance planes have also arrived to protect the Athens' skies.

"Everything is going according to plan," Greek Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis said after a two-hour Olympic security meeting attended by 10 ministers, Athens' mayor, police chiefs and top games organisers.

"In terms of security we have done whatever is humanly possible to have secure and very good games in Greece," Voulgarakis said.

NATO will help with surveillance planes, sea patrols and emergency response forces.

Meanwhile, U.S. cruise ship World Renaissance of the Royal Olympic Cruises, which has a capacity of more than 450 passengers, has arrived in Athens. Eight cruise ships, including the world's largest passenger ship - Queen Mary 2 - will serve as floating
hotels and will house heads of state and senior Olympic officials. They will get war-like security. There are several thousands of elite commando and other forces, barbed wire fences fitted with motion sensors, surveillance cameras, X-ray machines and detectors for radiological, chemical and biological material. Gunboats and helicopters are on constant patrol.