ODA head Armitt says London 2012 must maintain momentum

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) London 2012 will be completed on time and on budget, the new chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) John Armitt said today.

''It's one of the highest profile and most complex projects in the world but it has the fundamental issue that there is only one date and therefore we don't miss that date,'' Armitt told reporters at the ODA's London headquarters.

''The ODA's number one priority is getting it finished on time...to achieve that we have to make early and quick decisions, and I'm encouraged by everything that's gone on so far..it's clear we've had our foot on the gas and I look forward to maintaining that momentum.'' The ODA is the body overseeing the building of venues and infrastructure. Armitt was named last week as the man to fill the hole left last October by the departure of American Jack Lemley.

Lemley quit suddenly, naming Government interference as one of his reasons, prompting months of negative media coverage, mainly over escalating costs.

Armitt is well aware that the ODA's progress will come in for a high level of scrutiny, both from at home and from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). An IOC inspection team is due to monitor London's progress next month.

However, he discounted fears that the budget for building and staging the Games would rise above the 9.3 billion pounds announced in March by Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell.

''It's no surprise that politicians are wanting to know what's going on because a lot of this is being funded from the public purse,'' he said.

''We have to make sure they trust us as quickly as possible and feel confident to let us get on with it.

''All I know is that a lot of work was done by the ODA in reaching the budget that was announced recently. We know how much money we've got to work with and that's it.'' The 60-year-old Armitt has huge experience in construction projects, including the Channel Tunnel, and says delivering the London 2012 Olympics offered him the ''chance of a lifetime''.

''There is a lot of work to do. We are in a preparatory year and then we have three years of building and construction,'' he said.

''As long as we make the decisions we need to make quickly during the next year and get everything bolted down I don't see any difficulty in making the deadline.'' Reuters TB DB2254