Rio de Janeiro---In Tuesday marking 500 days to go before it stages South America's first ever Olympic Games, Rio is straining at the leash to be ready -- but a key target of dealing with pollution in the bay hosting sailing events is floating out of reach.
In having to overhaul crumbling infrastructure, polluted waters and protests notably over the choice of a nature reserve to host the return of golf to the Games, organizers could almost be forgiven for seeing the undertaking as one mammoth discipline -- a giant obstacle course.
Last April, International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice-President John Coates slammed preparations as the "worst ever" and warned "the situation is critical on the ground" following several inspection visits.
Organizers responded by creating a taskforce to monitor progress and IOC President Thomas Bach insisted he was "very satisfied" following last month's three-day meeting of the IOC's executive committee in Rio.
Although city mayor Eduardo Paes made combative comments Tuesday praising the city's efforts to get ready, he admitted to concern over the Games' environmental impact.
Green campaigners and athletes alike have slammed yachting site Guanabara Bay, picturesque but a smelly dumping ground for refuse amid an ongoing struggle to clean up waters which biologists say also risk contamination from superbacteria in adjoining rivers which are resistant to antibiotics.
State authorities admit Rio will struggle to meet its pledge to treat 80 percent of the raw sewage which floats into the bay, offering a stark contrast to the postcard image organizers offered up to mark 500 days in depicting Olympic mascot Vinicius perched atop the Sugarloaf Mountain cable car.
- Missed opportunity -
Paes himself admitted dissatisfaction over the bay clean-up, originally supposed to be total, then reduced to clearing 80 percent of raw sewage, that now appearing more wishful thinking than a target with only around 49 percent reached to date.
"As a Rio resident I think it is a shame Guanabara Bay has not been totally cleaned up. I think it is a missed opportunity," Paes told SporTV Monday, while insisting competitor health would not be at risk with the Games being held in the cleanest part of the bay.
Organizers earlier told AFP that "cleaning up the bay is an important legacy objective."
Local organizing commitee head Carlos Nuzman insisted Rio would emerge more transformed than even 1964 hosts Tokyo and 1992 hosts Barcelona.
AFP
