Rio strikes new agreement on Guanabara Bay clean-up
Guanabara Bay will host the sailing events at the Rio 2016 Olympics - Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil
A technical cooperation agreement signed Monday (Aug. 3) by the state government of Rio de Janeiro with seven universities and three research centers will pave the way for a new diagnosis of the pollution conditions in Guanabara Bay. The purpose of the collaboration is to monitor the government clean-up efforts and track progress.
According to Rio state governor Luiz Fernando Pezão, when Rio was announced in 2009 as the chosen location to host the 2016 Olympics, 17% of the sewage in Guanabara Bay was treated. This has been expanded to a current 49%. According to him, by 2017 a new agency will be created to manage efforts at the bay.
André Corrêa, State Secretary for the Environment, explained that the Guanabara Bay Environmental Sanitation Program has inspired sanitation plans in 15 neighboring municipalities. According to him, it will take about $3.5 billion to clean up the water body completely. “We have invited seven universities to audit the government's job, this is groundbreaking,” he said.
According to Torben Grael, Brazil's top Olympic sailing medalist, people are not at risk of catching a disease through contact with the waters of Guanabara Bay in the Olympics. “We have been sailing here since childhood and never got sick,” he said. He noted, however, that there is no reason to ease off the pace of the clean-up efforts: “We're certainly not going to get anywhere near the 80% [cleanup] target we announced [for the Olympics]. But we can surely keep working to have our breathtaking bay [shining] back again in the future.”
Reigning 49erFX class sailing world champions Martine Grael and Kunze Kahena regret that the action taken to improve water quality falls so short of the needs. “I love sailing here [at Guanabara]. It's my favorite place, but I'd rather it weren't so dirty,” Martine said.
*With additional radio reporting by Joana Moscatelli for Radiojornalismo EBC
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Rio strikes new agreement on Guanabara Bay clean-up
