The cleanup promise of the Guanabara Bay for the 2016 Olympics is "coming up even in the series of infrastructure construction projects also planned" for the Games, according to Vinicius Konchinski of UOL. A video "shared on the Internet showed the waste from the regional revitalization project of the Rio de Janeiro capital -- a legacy project" of the Rio 2016 organizing committee -- being dumped directly into Guanabara waters. The bay "will host competitions" during the 2016 Games. Geographer Rogério Freitas "captured" the dumping on his cell phone. On March 20, Freitas passed "in front of an area of the Olympic competitions when he saw dirty water falling into the bay." Meters from the dumping, employees "worked on reforming a tunnel." The video "had repercussions" and experts from the Rio de Janeiro State Environmental Institute (Inea) visited the dumping area on Monday; however, "no irregularities were found." The Porto Novo consortium, which is responsible for the project, said it "follows all rules of dumping construction waste." Treating 80% of the sewage dumped into the Guanabara Bay before the Games "was a promise assumed by the Rio de Janeiro government in 2009, when the city was chosen" as a host. In spite of that, Rio de Janeiro State Environment Secretary André Corrêa and Governor Luiz Fernando Pezão "already admitted that it might not be fulfilled" (
UOL, 4/8).
REQUEST HEARD: In São Paulo, Flávio Dilascio reported one week after initiating ticket sales for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, event organizers have "accounted for 1.2 million request entries." Volleyball was "the most sought-after sport, leaving football second on the list." Rio de Janeiro had the "largest number of requests, followed by São Paulo" and Brasília (GLOBO ESPORTE, 4/7).
