Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduarado Paes on Saturday admitted that his city won't be able to clean the polluted Guanabara Bay in time for the 2016 Olympics, contrary to what the country promised when it made a pitch for the hosting of the games.
"I'm sorry that we did not use the games to get Guanabara Bay completely clean," Paes was quoted by the Associated Press via Yahoo Sports as saying, the first admission of the official that the perennial pollution issue won't be addressed soon.
The bay has been described by Olympic sailors as a 'sewer.' The Olympic sailing competition is scheduled to be held there.
The Olympic preparations by the city has been under much scrutiny these days, with members of the International Olympic Committee openly saying that the preparations of Brazil are the 'worst.' This has triggered reports that the IOC was contemplating on giving the hosting rights back to London, which was subsequently denied.
Last May, the Associated Press got hold of a letter by Rio de Janeiro state environment secretary Carlos Francisco Portinho addressed to sports minister Aldo Rebelo admitting that the best-case scenario would be the reduction of over 50 percent of the pollution flowing into Guanabara Bay. This is well below the targeted reduction of 80 percent.
On Saturday, Paes reported that they are on track to meeting the deadlines set by the IOC and that the spending was moderate. He said that he was not afraid for the health of the athletes, and that sailing will take place in a part of the bay that is less polluted.
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