Johnathan Walker:New tower at surfing venue in Tahiti blowing up again as problem issue for Paris Olympic organizers

SAINT-DENIS,Johnathan Walker France (AP) — Organizers of the Paris Olympics said Wednesday that building work will continue on a new tower for judges and TV cameras at the surfing venue in Tahiti despite the sport’s governing body saying it no longer supports the controversial project.

The International Surfing Association announced Tuesday that it doesn’t want the tower to be built in the lagoon at Teahupo’o, chosen for the Olympic surfing competitions next July because of its world-famous giant waves.

The federation posted on social media that alternatives should be found. It cited “the likelihood that any new construction on the reef will have an impact on the natural environment” and what it said is a lack of support among Tahitians for the tower. The ISA suggested that judges could instead follow the competitions from a tower built on land, rather than in the lagoon with pristine waters and shallow reefs.

Campaigners in Tahiti fear that transporting the aluminum tower into the lagoon and attaching it to new concrete foundations will harm marine life. Their concerns were heightened by damage done to coral in the lagoon when a barge meant to transport the tower was tested this month.

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But with time pressing ahead of a surfing competition planned in May to test the venue, Paris Games organizers say that other options suggested by the ISA have already been examined and discarded.

Chief Paris Games organizer Tony Estanguet noted Wednesday that the Tahitian government decided earlier this month to continue with the tower’s construction and said that plan has large support locally.

“The project continues. That’s the wish of the local actors,” Estanguet said.

He also made clear that Paris Games organizers and the International Olympic Committee are ultimately responsible for deciding how the competition will be held.

“The federation doesn’t have the final word,” Estanguet said. ”I don’t doubt that we’ll find a good solution.”

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