- Title: OLYMPICS-BRAZIL/POLLUTION-RALLY Rio protesters demand cleanup of Guanabara Bay
- Date: 6th June 2015
- Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLLUTION IN GUANABARA BAY SAILING BOAT
- Embargoed: 21st June 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Brazil
- Country: Brazil
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA7NSZYB2J0FX9DE74ZNI5P5KM6
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Protesters in Rio de Janeiro gathered at the city's picturesque Guanabara Bay on Saturday (June 6) to highlight the environmental cost of throwing waste into the bay where the sailing and windsurfing competitions are scheduled in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
As part of its Olympic bid, Rio promised to clean up 80 percent of the bay for the games. But local government officials have already admitted that a cleanup by 2016 is not achievable.
Marine Biologist Mario Moscateli addressed the protesters and said he would seek legal action to push authorities to boost cleanup efforts.
"We are submitting a document with photographs in order to demand that they recuperate Guanabara Bay," said Moscateli.
"We will take this document to all the authorities, not only the interior ministry, because we are tired of shouting and protesting without having any results," Cristiane Bernardo, a lawyer for a Brazilian NGO, told the protesters.
Despite millions of dollars of investment over the years, the bay still stinks of sewage.
"What kind of Olympics is this? It is an Olympics of shame," said Margarita, a protester.
Sailors who visited the city earlier this year for test events complained of a floating sofa and a dead dog in the water. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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