Olympics bitter for Rio residents to swallow
With the Games fast approaching Rio’s residents are nervous, reports Laura McQuillan from the host city.
‘‘It’s good for Rio. But it’s bad for the people,’’ my doorman tells me, when I ask how he feels about the Olympics.
His thoughts echo those of nearly every Brazilian I’ve spoken to about next month’s Games.
They’re happy the city’s getting overdue infrastructure updates notably, public transport, and a degree of improvement to the heavily-polluted bay.
But from a costly mega-event being forced down their throats, tied to demolition of homes and political corruption, at a time when the it.
Finding any sign of pre-Olympic excitement is still a challenge, although Rio 2016’s president Carlos Nuzman assures me ’’the excitement is very big’’, a month out from the opening ceremony.
Yet a poll by Rio daily newspaper O Globo puts - that’s a 10 per cent drop from .
And while 61 per cent of city residents believe the Games will be a success, 85 per cent believe a lack of security could make them a failure. country can least afford
‘‘It’s a mixed situation,’’ woman told me on the beach.
‘‘But I think there’s more bad than good, especially for the poor.’’
At the same time we spoke, protesters were demonstrating in the city centre. Their message: ‘‘Olympics for whom?’’
Two weeks ago, Rio de Janeiro state declared a ‘‘state of calamity’’ - warning of a ‘‘total collapse’’ of public services, from hospitals to security. Police, teachers, pensioners and others haven’t received payments from the state in months.
Cops are protesting in the city’s international airport, with one banner reading ‘‘Welcome to hell. Police and firefighters don’t get paid, whoever comes to Rio de Janeiro will not be safe.’’ a
Rio will be ready for the Games, a taxi driver told me, ‘‘but it won’t be safe.’’
My Uber driver was a little more It's a disaster. Tourists are screwed. blunt: ‘‘It’s a screwed.’’
A whopping R$2.9 billion (NZ$1.2 billion) loan from Brazil’s government has just been agreed, in order to fund security measures - and backpay the police.
That’ll be a relief to Rio’s acting governor Francisco Dornelles, who warned without urgent security measures, and urgent work to get a new metro line ready in time, the Games ‘‘could be a big failure’’.
The Olympic spend has left a sour taste with Brazilians ticked off disaster. Tourists are snowballing about their country’s corruption scandal.
When August hits, bringing with it a month of school holidays, three extra public holidays, the Olympic torch, thousands of athletes and half a million visitors, the excitement will build and the complaints will quieten down - at least, for a few weeks - just as they did before the World Cup in 2014.
But for now, even those who’ve forked out for tickets to the oncein-a-lifetime event have their reservations about how the Games might come off.
‘‘It is out of our league,’’ a lawyer, who will take his family to several events, told me.
He said he expected a ‘‘fun, loud’’ atmosphere in the stands, but added: ’’If Greece couldn’t pull it off, why could we?’’