RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: Whatever the government touches, turns to shit: Olympic white elephants? Rio's got a herd of them Sun Feb 19, 2017 9:38 pm | |
| Rio's Olympic organizers promised there'd be no white elephants after the crowds and athletes went home. Unfortunately, six months later there's a herd charging through Brazil's run-down second city.
From the dead grass at the world famous Maracana stadium to the unsold apartments in the 31 towers of the athletes' Village that were meant to become a new luxury neighborhood, you don't have to look far to see the unfulfilled promises of South America's first Olympic Games.
Even a year before the Games started, a top official in the mayor's office, Pedro Paulo, promised: "We will leave no white elephants." Right before the August 21 closing ceremony, then mayor Eduardo Paes repeated the assurance.
City and sports officials point to a new metro line and bus network as lasting achievements. The transport system in often chaotic Rio was badly in need of help and these costly infrastructure projects are widely seen as a success.
But the Olympic Park, partly built on land formerly occupied by a deeply rooted local community, is in a state of eerie abandonment.
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/olympic-white-elephants-rios-got-213753400.html |
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