Gov’t may get new builder for Marathon route
The government will begin looking for a new contractor to improve the Olympic marathon route if the financially troubled company now working on the project fails to overcome delays, a minister said yesterday. The company working on widening portions of the 42-kilometer (26.2-mile) route between Athens and the village of Marathon, European Technical SA, said last week that it was unable to pay workers nearly 1 million euros ($1.25 million) because of problems with a bank. Athens Stock Exchange authorities said yesterday they were monitoring European Technical shares and had placed the company «under supervision.» Disgruntled workers, led by truckdrivers, have disrupted traffic along the road for 11 days and caused massive traffic jams along the route to Marathon. «If the work does not progress… we will rescind the contract from the company and will proceed to appoint a new company,» Nasos Alevras, deputy minister in charge of Olympic construction projects, told The Associated Press. European Technical has been responsible for widening approximately 16 kilometers (10 miles) of the road. (AP)
