Key Olympic venues must "start coming out of the ground" within six months or Athens organizers will be responsible for hurting the quality of the Games, the chief international inspector warned Friday.

Ending a two-day visit, International Olympic Committee envoy Jacques Rogge said any further delays are intolerable.

"We expect the beginning of works. That will be the acid test," Rogge demanded.

"We want buildings to start coming out of the ground because without them we can't have the Games," he added.

The sharp words reinforced what critics have suggested for months: Athens organizers have failed to heed previous IOC warnings that there was no time to waste. The lack of progress in construction has suddenly overshadowed other major issues, such as security and transportation around the traffic-clogged city.

But Rogge noted there is no discussion of stripping Athens of the Olympics.

"There is no way we will remove the Games ... but the quality of the Games will be decided in the next six months," said Rogge, who will lead the next review of the planning in May.

Rogge said he urged Premier Costas Simitis to "do everything in his power for deadlines to be respected" and for various ministries to better coordinate their efforts.

"You need venues, but you also need access roads," he said.

Greece's Socialist government directly controls major Olympic construction projects, leaving the 2004 organizing committee with very little control of the works. Simitis earlier in the week demanded various departments speed up their work.

But that apparently was not enough for the head of the organizing committee, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki. She has urged the government to speed up legislation to allow Athens organizers hire foreign experts.

"Time is our enemy," Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said. "We need to be able to deal with unpredictable situations, and bureaucracy can create uncontrollable situations."

The International Olympic Commitee is worried about time tables for a number of indoor sports complexes that are to be built on the outskirts of the city. Some sites are already six months behind schedule.

Rogge said the most important lesson learned from the 2000 Sydney Games was the importance of having venues ready at least one year before the Olympics to allow sports federations to hold test events.

"No delay is possible. These test events are essential," he said.

Last year, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said unprecedented delays in planning put the 2004 Games in jeopardy. But Rogge dismissed as "rubbish" a report that Samaranch was working behind the scenes to move the games to South Korea.

Also Friday, Rogge said IOC experts held "good discussions" with Greek security officials. Some critics believe Greece's weak anti-terrorism record could increase the risks for attacks during the games.

"The government is doing its utmost on security," said Rogge.

Athens organizers have promised the largest security operation in the country's history for the Olympics _ a dlrs 600 million effort that will include special commando units and a surveillance camera network around the city.

(People's Daily 02/17/01)