All ready for Rio

With just a matter of weeks left before the 2016 Olympic Games get under way in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is reassuring the world of their readiness. Despite much negative press being thrown their way by mainstream media, officials from Rio said that all was well when they paid a visit to the Barbados Advocate yesterday.

 

Brazilian Ambassador to Barbados, Luiz Gilberto Seixas de Andrade; his Deputy Head of Mission, Fernando Augusto Ferraz Muggiatti; and Secretary of Embassy Elisiane Rubin Rossato, while wishing the best for the Barbadian athletes heading off to the 31st Olympiad, came to the media house to share information that they believed important for the Caribbean region to have. With many health and security fears swirling in the minds of many, official word from Brazil is that all dangers were minimal.

 

Noting that Rio was met with similar skepticism prior to 2014’s FIFA World Cup, de Andrad stated that despite fears, the event came off successfully. “We had this same phenomenon before with the World Cup. Most people said that it is not going to work. It didn’t work for us with the football, but it did work in organisation.” he quipped as he joked of his team’s fortunes in the competition.

 

Stating that heading into the World Cup, most friction came from the younger members of society due to the structural and financial changes, Muggiatti said that this time around more of the population became engaged in the process despite the expenses to the government. “This year it is a little different because yesterday, one of the biggest newspapers in Rio published an interview they have done with 4 500 people – mostly young people. And they have a very positive view about the Olympics,” he said before going on to say that the facilities built for the Olympics would have further use in the future. “This kind of work that was done, mainly by the press, was very positive to show people that those are not going to be, as we call them in Brazil, “white elephants” that are going to be there and not to be of any use. They are going to be of many uses for many people. This is very positive and people are very enthusiastic about it.”

 

With regard to the Zika virus which has gripped the world, it is being reported that this too will be a negligible concern as the Olympics are being held in winter months. Being hailed as a good cooperation of nature, a report from Brazil’s Minister of Health Ricardo Barros states; “The circulation of the Zika virus, spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, will not hinder us from having a safe an unforgettable event for athletes, participants and spectators. The risks are minimal. A study published by the University of Cambridge makes a forecast of less than one case of infection among the 500 000 tourists. WHO specialists corroborated on June 14 that the risk of propagation of the disease is very low. During the games, trips to Rio will represent 0.25% of all travel to Zika-affected areas, according to United States’ CDC. Overall, the virus is already circulating in 60 countries, and Brazil represents 15% of the exposed population.”

 

As it relates to infrastructure, most investments were made by private sector with transportation being the major cost of government. Ambassador de Andrade said that changes were made difficult as Rio is a narrow city set between the mountains and the sea. He however added that the integrity and charm of the city remained untouched for the most part as most of the mobility infrastructure was created using tunnels.

 

Noting that they were not at 100% due to the pollution in one of the main bays in Rio, Muggiatti said that all was being done to keep all safe. With a treatment process on the bay only 60% complete, the Deputy Head stated that short-term fixes were currently in the works to keep the risks down. “What they are doing is concentrating the products in the areas where the competitions are going to happen and they are going to do it everyday in order to protect the athletes from any kind of problem.”

 

The Ambassador also mentioned his hopes for his team’s performance next month. “Another challenge for us is how many medals we are going to get. We had a very good Pan-American Games but when you go to the Olympics, it is something else. It is a much broader competition. During the last five years, the government has been allocating scholarships for most of the athletes with the potential to be in the Olympics. We do hope that the result of the programme will translate to more medals than we had in the last Olympics. We just have to wait and see.” de Andrade said.