New York - The new World Trade Center will not be completed on time to mark the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, overwhelmed by cost overruns and an over optimistic schedule, news reports said Tuesday.

News headlines said construction efforts had become stuck at Ground Zero, the 16-acre site of the former center's 110-storey twin towers that were destroyed by the terrorist attacks that killed more than 2,700 people.

New York and New Jersey government officials, teams of architects and developers had hoped two years ago to complete the ambitious, state-of-the-art buildings, which promoters have lauded for their security features to withstand terrorism, by 2011. The officials now said new timetables and dates for completing the new center will not be known until September.

News reports said Monday that financial woes would delay the completion until at least the middle of 2010. The Port of Authority of New York and New Jersey, which own the WTC, may have to spend an additional 3 billion dollars to complete the new project, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said.

Christopher Ward, executive director of The Port Authority, had told New York Governor David Paterson that a committee of developers and government agencies will set new and achievable timetables for the construction in September.

"The schedule and cost estimates for the rebuilding effort that had been communicated to the public are not realistic," Ward told Paterson on Monday.

News reports said it was impossible to blame any one person for the delays, but accusations were flying against former politicians as well as those involved in the initial planning for the construction.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the costliest construction project at Ground Zero is a new subway hub designed by famed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, which would cost about 2 billion dollars. Bloomberg said the city has no money for the hub.

When the construction project was approved two years ago, the new WTC was expected to cost an estimated 15 billion dollars. It will feature a 592-metre-tall Freedom Tower, memorials for those killed by the terrorists, a museum, centres for performances, office space and shopping malls. (dpa)