Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo revealed that "Brazil will not have concluded all the infrastructure for the start of the 2014 World Cup, but the country will be in condition to host hundreds of thousands of visitors for the tournament," according to REUTERS. Rebelo also added, "We will do everything to guarantee that the people who come to the World Cup have a guarantee of security, comfort, and mobility within the 12 host cities. Part of the infrastructure will not be completely ready because this is an ongoing process. We are continuing to build a country." A report from the Ministry of Sports published in May revealed that "41 of the 101 projects linked to the World Cup have yet to come off paper." Rebelo also said that French company Accor is "investing $2.5B in the construction of hotels in Brazil until '15" (REUTERS, 7/31).
SPEED UP: PORTAL 2014 reported the Arena das Dunas in Natal, Brazil will have 200 more workers and 23 hour days. The World Cup host stadium will now have 1,200 workers who will works 23 hours a day to speed up the pace of construction. The last report, which came out in July, showed that the arena was 27% finished. In Rio Grande do Norte, the state where the arena is located, Governor Rosalba Ciarlini said, "The expectation is that by December of this year we are 50% done with the construction" (PORTAL2014.org.br, 7/31).
