Berlin lagging in its World Cup preparations

With less than 90 days to go until the Football World Cup kicks off in Germany, the capital is showing signs of strain in its preparations.

The city's most ambitious World Cup project is the decorating of the 368 metre high Berliner Fernsehturm (TV Tower). The tower's spherical observation deck is due to be covered in 8000 square metres of pink and silver film in order to make it look like a giant football. But with the project originally due to be finished for New Year's Eve, Deutsche Telekom - the main sponsor of the project - now hopes that the project will be finished 'at the latest by the start of the World Cup' in June.

Concerns have also been expressed in the city's printed press with regards to Berlin's capacity to cope with a World Cup terrorist attack or similar disaster. A disaster simulation last Saturday unfortunately did little to alay such concerns. The triple disaster simulation occurred in three places around the city and included a stadium collapse, a gas explosion and a poisonous gas attack. In most instances emergency services took over 30 minutes to arrive. In one case a fire service vehicle from Poland was the first to get to the scene. al