Wasted opportunity
Even though Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, head of the Athens 2004 organizing committee, has said that Phevos and Athena will be «the ideal ambassadors for the 2004 Olympic Games around the world,» the two mascots will have to make a heroic effort to accomplish their mission and get on the public’s good side. And not only because their aesthetic shape points less to the Light and Wisdom of classical antiquity and more to television-based show business across the Atlantic. The fundamental weakness of the two mascots is the same one that plagues ambassadors around the world: Pleasant as they themselves may be, there is not much they can do unless they are backed by the deeds of the country they represent. In the case of Greece, preparations for the Athens 2004 Olympics are still far from winning public sympathy, not only internationally but also at home. As the days go by, the public reinforces the impression that the historic opportunity to upgrade our urban infrastructure with long-term projects has gone unexploited. The case of the suburban railway is, perhaps, the main example but not the only one. The suburban railway was originally planned to cover 154 kilometers. These were cut down to 49 and then 32, and no one knows how much more will be trimmed in the future. Rather than going for electric-powered, environmentally friendly trains, we have opted for diesel-powered ones. Commissions for the above projects are completely out of line, as they now make up 30 percent of the budget. All this concerns the only, possibly, major project within the context of the 2004 Olympics – a project whose necessity has not been questioned by anyone, but instead has received warm backing from the responsible ministries, the European Union, scientists and environmentalists. This is a project that was originally seen as an impetus for the overall upgrading of Greek railways which have seen no major improvement since the time of Harilaos Tricoupis. We have finally managed to turn this project into a reflection of the overall picture of Olympic preparations: Key projects are trimmed because of poor planning, insufficient funds and lack of transparency, and supplanted by prefabricated or makeshift solutions. The outcome is uncomfortably predictable, limiting the genuine benefits to our living standards, benefits that would remain after the Games end, and exploding the cost that Greek taxpayers will be called upon to shoulder in organizing the event.
