Guarding the Games’ legacy
With the Olympics safely over and the end of the Paralympics drawing close, government officials met yesterday to discuss how to best protect Games venues from pilferers and vandals once the Games are over. «The Paralympics will be over in a few days, and we must take advantage of this great Olympic legacy,» Alternate Culture Minister Fanni Palli-Petralia told journalists after the meeting. «Our discussions focused on maintaining and guarding the Olympic venues and the infrastructure there until decisions are made on their future use.» While several of the Olympic venues are currently in use for the Paralympics, the rest will remain closed to the public until all the equipment used for the Games has been removed and handed over to officials at a site in Magoula, on the western fringes of Athens. «The handover process has already started,» Palli-Petralia said. Officials were unable to specify whether the job of guarding the equipment will be handed to the police or to private security firms.
