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Last month, after the rescheduled 2020 Olympics ended, Tokyo handed over the Olympic flame to Paris.
Rio de Janeiro, which hosted the Olympic Games in 2016, is watching the game, and they are still waiting for the fulfillment of several promises made more than five years ago.
It is expected that the 2016 Rio Olympics will not only increase the number of tourists and national image outside Brazil, but also leave a legacy in public safety, create new job opportunities, integrated public transportation systems and urban projects, and benefit the people for a long term.
The 2016 Rio Olympics Heritage Public Policy Plan states that “heritage is a series of infrastructure projects (including sports) and public policies in the fields of transportation, environment, urbanization, education, and culture, which are ongoing and accelerated. Or It is because the city of Rio de Janeiro hosted the Olympic Games in 2016″.
There are 27 projects in the heritage plan — developed by the city, state, and federal governments in 2014 — that have little to do with the Olympics, but will be promoted, such as the expansion of transportation routes.
As Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio at the time, promised during the preparations for the Olympics, our idea was to leave functional devices behind and “no white elephants.”
Rio’s major projects include Olympic Avenue (the area between the port and the city center), Metro Line 4, Olympic Park and the rapid transit (BRT).
But none of these projects have been completed.
A bird’s eye view of 2017 shows the Velodrome, whose roof was partially burned after a fire in the Olympic Park, which was used for the 2016 Rio Olympics [Ricardo Moraes/Reuters]Since 2015, no progress has been made in the construction of the Gavea section of the subway connecting the southern and western districts.
The Olympic Park has hosted some sporting events and even rock and roll in Rio. The original project plan was to build four schools during the demolition of the future arena (the site of the handball competition), but they have not yet been delivered and the venues still exist.
Although the Brazilian Olympic Committee uses some facilities as training bases for national team athletes, none of them have become permanent training centers.
The Cidade Olímpica Museum, which opened in Ngenhau Stadium in 2016, showcases the history of the Olympic Games. Through the use of technology, visitors can use virtual reality to fly over Rio to visit attractions.
However, the museum closed in 2019. The Municipal Science and Technology Department in charge of the venue did not give a reason, only announcing that it had stopped using it during the previous government, but it is expected to reopen later this year.
The city hall administrator told Al Jazeera that “the former mayor of Rio has given up everything in the past four years.”
The 2016 Rio Olympic Games Organizing Committee and several representatives did not respond to Al Jazeera’s repeated requests for interviews.
The Olympic Heritage Management Agency (AGLO), responsible for overseeing and promoting the activities of the sports organizations left over from the 2016 Rio Olympics and Paralympics, was disbanded by President Bolsonaro in 2019.
This means that there is no specific organization responsible for monitoring the heritage.
The Olympic Public Administration (APO) officially stated that the total expenditure for the 2016 Rio Olympics was slightly more than 39 billion Brazilian reals (approximately US$7.4 billion today).
In addition to this money, more money has been shelved, including compensation to the residents of Vila Autodromo who left their homes in order to build the Olympic Park.
Residents of Vila Autodromo in Rio de Janeiro deported [Courtesy of Luiz Claudio Silva]The city government started to expel approximately 650 families living in Vila in 2013 because, according to the government, they blocked the road to the park.
Residents of temporary communities face two choices: financial compensation or relocation to an apartment not far from where they are located.
Sandra Maria Souza is a member of 20 families. They strongly opposed and did not accept any proposal.
She came to the slum in 1991 and raised four children there. The acupuncturist recalled that when she learned that Rio de Janeiro was the host of the Olympic Games, she hoped that this event would provide an opportunity to improve the quality of public spaces, but she never thought that she would be so negatively affected.
She described the government’s attitude as harsh-“physical violence, threats, and psychological pressure.”
When the relocation process began, Souza described the living conditions of the community as “non-human” because she said that the Rio government suspended basic services such as mail delivery, garbage collection, and street lighting.
The house of Vila Autodromo in Rio was demolished [Courtesy of Luiz Claudio Silva]In addition, there are other problems: the demolished houses leave rubble, the accumulation of rubbish leads to the infestation of rats, and the families who choose to relocate leave behind stray cats and dogs.
She had to move so that all the remaining families would live on the same street where the new house was built. However, she added that the government has also promised to rebuild children’s playgrounds, cultural centers and other destroyed public facilities, while regularizing existing houses.
The agreement was not fulfilled.
In May 2016, Souza and her neighbor established the Deportation Museum in Vera to protect the memory of the area and advocate against other forced evictions around the world.
Seven sculptures made of rubble are exhibited there, each representing an important place that has been demolished.
For Sosa, the legacy of the 2016 Rio Olympics is loss.
“The destruction of life, this is my legacy,” she said.
‘No specific goal’
Renata Latuf de Oliveira Sanchez wrote her doctoral dissertation entitled “Mapping the City: The Legacy of the 2016 Barada Tiju Carrio Olympic Games”.
She also saw that the Brazilian Olympics left more problems than solutions. She told Al Jazeera that the problem is that it lacks the plan of the decision maker.
“Everything was done without a joint long-term estate plan,” Sanchez said. “The plan needs to set specific goals for 5, 10, 20, or even 50 years. Otherwise, other projects and assumed priorities will eventually take over, and the existing complex will be put aside by the next person in office. “
Paes re-elected as Rio Mayor last year and defended the Olympics at the same time.
“In terms of transportation, we have achieved a real transformation by building 3 BRT lines and expanding the subway,” said the city hall.
“Rio left behind an intangible legacy similar to Barcelona in 1992.”
However, Suza disagreed. As a public transport user, she claims that BRT is an excuse to dismantle various bus lines, which is very useful for people.
“To go to certain places, we used to take only one bus, but now sometimes we have to take three, which increases the cost of tickets and commuting time.”
The Federal Ministry of Public Affairs and the Federal Accounting Court pointed out that construction works during the 2016 Rio Olympics were suspected of overcharging and reported a lack of reliable plans for managing facilities.
Carlos Arthur Nuzman, who has served as the chairman of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) for 22 years, was suspected of purchasing the IOC director and voting for Rio as the Olympic venue. He was due to corruption and crime in 2017 The organization was arrested.
Environmental protection is also a lack of implementation.
Unfulfilled commitments include cleaning up the lagoon and hosting a sailing race in Guanabara Bay.
By 2016, the sewage and garbage flowing into the bay should have been reduced by 80%. The government of Sergio Cabral made this promise in its election campaign to choose Rio as the host city.
According to estimates by the National Water and Wastewater Treatment Corporation (CEDAE), less than 40% of wastewater is currently treated.
However, not all situations are unfavorable. Flood prevention work for residents near Maracana has finally begun.
In addition, English is taught to approximately 10,000 taxi drivers and 70,000 volunteers through free online language courses.
But just before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics earlier this year, the mayor of Perth decided to reiterate his unfulfilled promise.
On July 22, he stated that the original heritage project will be restored after some adjustments.
The four sports schools to be built in the future arena should be completed in early 2023, and other sports venues should be provided by the community and provide free activities and courses.
But the plan has a price. The dismantling of the arena and water sports center alone would cost an additional 78 million reais (US$15 million).
Sanchez said that initiatives related to the 2016 Rio Olympics lacked publicity, investment and partnerships. But despite this, she believes the situation may change.
“There is still time to change the way of thinking, but although the government has changed every time the election, it still requires continuous organization, investment and planning.”
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