OLYMPICS-BRAZIL/COUNTDOWN With just 500 days until the Opening Ceremony for the 2016 Olympics, officials in Rio say city will be ready

Record ID: 332401

  • Title: OLYMPICS-BRAZIL/COUNTDOWN With just 500 days until the Opening Ceremony for the 2016 Olympics, officials in Rio say city will be ready
  • Date: 24th March 2015
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS AERIALS OF THE OLYMPIC PARK UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN THE BARRA DE TIJUCA NEIGHBOURHOOD VARIOUS AERIALS OF THE OLYMPIC GOLF COURSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
  • Embargoed: 8th April 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6C1XB68GSMWMB4TVPJZ4LXA49
  • Story Text: The Opening Ceremony for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro is in just 500 days and officials in Rio say that despite a list of works still to be done, the city will be ready to welcome the world on August 5, 2016.
    One of the most contentious issues has been criticism over pollution in Rio's Guanabara Bay where Olympic sailing events will be held.
    During an event to mark the 500 day milestone, the President of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, Carlos Nuzman said the city would host a second sailing test event and that the waters of the polluted bay would be ready for competition.
    "The Guanabara Bay is being treated. It is an enormous effort by (Rio de Janeiro state) Governor (Luiz Fernando) Pezao, an effort to be able to deliver. Just as there was a test event in August (2014) - you all were there, and it was a success, - we will have another test event this August. And we expect and are confident that we will have the bay and its waters ready to welcome athletes from around the world and the water, as they say, will be the same as all, and the best (athletes) will win their medals," Nuzman said.
    While the August 2014 test event was generally a success, many of the athletes complained of the water quality and said they saw floating debris including a sofa and animal carcasses near the course.
    When it bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro said it would cut the amount of raw sewage flowing into the bay by 80 percent but has since admitted that is unlikely.
    All the same, the city and state governments have said the waters will be safe for competition and have pledged to continue to work on cleaning up the bay which was a key part of Rio's bid and has long been a goal of successive local governments.
    Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been spent but the water remains fetid.
    Biologists last year said rivers leading into the bay contained a superbacteria that is resistant to antibiotics and can cause urinary, gastrointestinal and pulmonary infections.
    Meanwhile, to mark the 500-day countdown, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes took part in the ceremonial connection of the Via Expressa Tunnel as two ends of the tunnel finally met in the middle.
    Paes said the city was going to finish all the public works including the stadiums and Olympic Parks on time.
    "With the Olympics, we are going to show that Brazil is able to complete public works projects on schedule, on budget, without going over the price. We're going to deliver the stadiums on time, at cost. The Olympic Park in Barra (de Tijuca neighbourhood) is going really great. The Olympic Park in Deodoro (neighbourhood) is going really well. I'm not saying it is going to be easy, there are some enormous challenges. We are now in a phase in which there are challenges in the operations of the Games as well. It is an enormous challenge. But I am very optimistic about the Olympics that we are going to deliver with 500 days to go until the start of the Olympics," Paes said.
    The tunnel is one of several public works slated to be completed before the start of the Olympics in August 2016.
    It will stretch 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) and is part of the larger Via Expressa project which will be a six-lane freeway linking important parts of the city including the Santos Dumont Airport and the main bus station along the Maravilha Port in downtown Rio.
    There are currently 900 workers working in three shifts 24 hours a day to complete the project on time.
    Workers are also busy around the clock building the Olympic Park in Barra de Tijuca and sporting facilities in the Deodoro neighbourhood as well as a controversial Olympic Golf Course in the Jacarepagua neighbourhood.
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