OLYMPICS-BRAZIL/GOLF COURSE Rio mayor releases document explaining Olympic golf course controversies

Record ID: 332403

  • Title: OLYMPICS-BRAZIL/GOLF COURSE Rio mayor releases document explaining Olympic golf course controversies
  • Date: 25th March 2015
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS AERIALS OF THE GOLF COURSE
  • Embargoed: 9th April 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1NC4OGHCMD31XGNUIACFJDASI
  • Story Text: Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes defended the controversial construction of the Olympic golf course on a visit to the site on Wednesday (March 25), addressing issues which have led to several legal enquiries and recurring protests.
    One of the main points of contention for biologists and activists opposed to the construction of the course is the environmental degradation to the area.
    This has been further complicated by claims of irregularities in the environmental permit underlying the works, which was passed by the mayor's office in 2007.
    During the visit, Paes told journalists that claims that environmental crimes were being committed were lies, and that the works are benefiting the environment with the reappearance of plant species.
    "Now you can see the area, there is the recovery of the natural vegetation here and this is a great legacy. And there's the sports legacy, all the clubs in Rio are private clubs, they are elite, very rich people, and now we will have a public golf course, anyone can come and play golf after the Olympics, maybe the best golf course in the world," Paes said on Wednesday.
    He added that 625,000 seeds will be planted to help to cultivate an area of land measuring 94,000 by 650,000 metres squared.
    According to lawyer Jean Carlos Novaes however, the main concern of the Occupy Golf movement, which holds frequent protests against the construction of the course, is the legality of the permits used in the works.
    "By what it seems, the golf course is the result of unfair financing received by the mayor's office in 2012. This is the motivation for the protest, rather than the environmental questions, which are in themselves very serious. The environmental licensing is illegal, wrongly authorized by the mayor who is not qualified to do so," Novaes told Reuters as protesters gathered outside the course.
    The Public Ministry of Rio State (MP-RJ) called for a halt to construction works in August whilst alleged irregularities in the permit were investigated. The claim was unsuccessful, however, and the works continued.
    Then at the beginning of March, the MP-RJ opened an enquiry investigating Paes for alleged administrative misconduct, in allowing "excessive" and "unjustified" advantages to the private group, Fioro Empreendimentos, in agreements for the construction of the course.
    The land in question is an environmentally protected area, in which buildings are subject to a 6-story limit.
    Paes also told journalists on Wednesday that he had believed the Olympic golf event - returning to the Games for the first time since 1904 - could have been held in two existing courses in the city, Itanhanga and Gavea Golf Clubs.
    According to the mayor, however, the possibility was rejected by the International Golf Federation and the International Olympic Committee.
    He added that plans to construct an Olympic course were in place in 2007 before he took office, but stressed the advantageous proximity of the new course to the athletes' village in Barra da Tijuca.
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