Olympic Torch arrives in Dar

The Olympic Torch arrived yesterday night (20.40 hrs) in Dar es salaam, Tanzania from Buenos Aires, Argentina after an uneasy tour of London, Paris and San Francisco. According to the an email from Tanzania Olympic committee (TOC) to the local Olympic Committee (RNOC) yesterday, the Olympic Torch celebrations will take place today at Tazara grounds in Dar es salaam. The TOC Secretary General Filbert Bayi said in the e-mail, “The Torch will arrive in Dar es Salaam on 12/4/2008(yesterday) at 2140 hrs(2040 local time) and actual Relay will be held on 13/4/2008(today) at 1400 hrs(1300 local time).” “The distance to be covered by 80 Torchbearers will be 5km (62m for each Torch Bearer), Bayi said. The final torch celebrations will be staged at the 60,000-seater ultra-modern stadium in Dar es Salaam. According to Tanzania daily newspapers, the Dar es Salaam Mayor Adam Kimbisa expects a peaceful race today. “I would like to reassure members of the public that there is no need for worry. We are in charge and we shall ensure that the relay leg in Tanzania is a success,”` he said. He requested Dar es Salaam residents to turn up in big numbers to take part in the global event which brings nations together. In a related development, RNOC’s Chef de mission Thierry Ntwali told Times Sport on Friday that financial constraint has forced the local Olympic Committee not to send a representative in the Olympic Torch celebrations due in Dar es Salaam. Ntwali said, “Over $1000would be gone in the expenses for the one-day Olympic Torch celebrations, a feat which would not be fair in regard to the preparations of Rwanda’s team ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games.” “That amount of money can’t be put to something useful like preparing the national athletes who will take part in the Olympic Games due in August in China,” Ntwali added. The Olympic torch will head to Muscat, Oman tomorrow after today’s experience in Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam is the only African city chosen alongside other 21 worldwide, for the colorful ceremony that precedes the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The total distance to be covered globally will be 137,000 kilometers. This is the first time for the torch to visit Tanzania and the East Africa region since the inception of the modern Olympic Torch Relay in 1936. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay is sponsored by Coca-Cola, Samsung and Lenovo. Other cities are Beijing, Almaty, Istanbul, St. Petersburg, Paris, San Francisco , Buenos Aires, Muscat , Islamabad , Mumbai (India), Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur , Jakarta , Canberra , Nagano, Seoul, Pyongyang , Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong and Macau. Ends