Rio mayor: Olympics 'wasted' chance for water cleanup

(The Philippine Star)

March 24, 2015 - 8:34am

This aerial view show the polluted water channels that rim the Barra neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, March 23, 2015. Authorities promised in Rio’s winning bid to drastically clean up the pollution in Guanabara bay, cutting it by 80 percent. But with 500 days left before the games, experts say efforts have had little impact on the garbage and sewage pollution of the waters where sailing, swimming and other aquatic events will take place. AP/Felipe Dana

RIO DE JANEIRO — Rio de Janeiro's mayor has acknowledged that the run-up to the 2016 Olympic games has proven a "wasted opportunity" to clean up the city's blighted waterways.

Eduardo Paes told SporTV television station on Monday that authorities "should have been able to achieve the goal" of cleaning up Guanabara Bay, where the Olympic sailing events will be held.

He added, "It is indeed a wasted opportunity."

Cleaning up the bay was touted in Rio's Olympic bid as one of the games' enduring legacies. But with just 500 days to go until the start of the games, authorities have made little progress in staunching the flow of raw sewage and household trash into the bay.

Athletes have raised concerns about possible health problems that could result from competing in the waters.

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