SECURITY for the 2010 Winter Olympics in westernmost Canada is forecast to cost just under one billion dollars Canadian ($1.2 billion), five times more than originally budgeted, media reported today.
The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing unnamed officials, said the estimate for the 17-day event has become a "very sensitive" issue in the midst of a recession and financial troubles to build an athletes village.
The original cost for what has been described as the largest peacetime security operation in Canada's history was $C175 million ($216.7 million) when Vancouver won the right in 2003 to host the games.
More than 12,000 police, private security personnel and Canadian soldiers are to be deployed to keep the games safe from terrorist attack and other disruptions.
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