ATHENS, Aug. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- It has cost Greece a great fortune staging the Olympic Games, but it is worthwhile, said the organizing committee president Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki here Wednesday.
"Every city hosting the Olympics knows that there is a heavy spending," said Angelopoulos-Daskalaki.
"It goes with the IOC requirements of organizing the games, stadiums for 28 sports of the Olympics, hotel for the IOC family, free lunch for the athletes, coaches, judges and referees," she said.
"So have we said that each spending finds its way to do it," she added.
Greece's Deputy Finance Minister Petrol Doukas revealed last Wednesday that the spending on the Olympic Games may rise to sevenbillion euros (8.4 billion US dollars) while the original government estimate of the total spending was 4.6 billion euros.
"But it is well worth it because we did all these not just for the Olympics but also for the days after," she said.
"We created new infrastructure, improved the technique service and telecommunication service. We now have a very competitive transportation system.
"Simply, many projects that were put into the cupboard now havecome out and it was the right time to create infrastructure for our city," she continued.
Greece has been racing against the clock to complete venue construction, drastically pushing up costs as contractors deploy double and triple working shifts.
"The cost is soaring as the governing is doing everything in a short period but all of them will well worth it.
"Some projects, you know, were forgotten but for some projects,who knows when they should be built if ever."
Since it will be the first summer Games after the terror attacks on U.S. cities on September 11, 2001, the biggest ever Olympic security plan alone costs about 1.0 billion euros, three times budget of previous host Sydney.
"We have record budget in security and we have the best troops,the best strategy," she said. "Our duty is to make the athletes feel safe and be safe here." Enditem | 
