Metro security costs 10 million
Security upgrades on the Athens metro system will necessitate spending up to 10 million euros, which the operator, AMEL SA, does not have, the company’s chief security officer said yesterday. AMEL «is on a hunt to try to find money to do these extra things for the Olympics,» Demosthenes Yiannissopoulos told The Associated Press yesterday. The «extra things» include the purchasing of security systems that will help prevent terrorist attacks on the system, especially during the Olympic Games. The items include 24,000 gas masks, 120 biometric readers, explosive-resistant garbage cans, security cameras, 180 radiation detectors, 25 explosives- and chemicals-detecting trucks, gas detectors, and bulletproof materials. Yiannissopoulos puts the total cost of the security upgrade at 10 million euros, of which AMEL has already spent 2 million. He said financial assistance was necessary to install the systems on time. Yiannissopoulos will attend an exercise simulating a biochemical attack on the Los Angeles subway next Friday.
