Interior ministry asks for over €250,000 for unexpected Rally Estonia costs
The interior ministry has asked for €265,899 from the government to cover outstanding costs from September's Rally Estonia.
The extra costs mostly came from policing – the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) falls under the ministry's remit – and the wages of PPA personnel involved in ensuring coronavirus compliance and public order.
Rally Estonia organizers had asked the Health Board (Terviseamet) for assistance in ensuring coronavirus compliance – including dispersal of fans and others and that the maximum numbers allowed were let in to the event, and to ensure the well-being of local residents.
However, it fell on the PPA to implement most of this.
The interior ministry says that this required over 9,000 hours' overtime, nearly 1,500 of which were overnight, and 92 hours' for the police to be on-call, as well as aerial surveillance of the rally routes and their environs, requiring PPA helicopters and planes.
The Rescue Board's (Päästeamet) South Estonia Rescue Center was also called on to check for potential bomb threats, which also led to unbudgeted-for costs, the ministry says.
PPA costs came to €245,352 and Rescue Board participation cost €20,547, the interior ministry said.
The full WRC-calendar event, the first to take place in Estonia and won by local hero Ott Tänak, had been supported by €2.5 million from the government ahead of race weekend, September 4-6. It only got the go-ahead in July.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte