Olympics shambles: Rio marred by further controversy

Labourers fixing Village where athletes are staying face working days of “up to 23 hours”

RIO DE JANEIRO: Controversy ignited on Wednesday over working conditions for labourers racing to repair shambolic conditions at the athletes’ Village in Rio just nine days before the Olympics.

As the authorities insisted that the Village was only experiencing teething problems and would be ready shortly, questions arose over alleged lack of legal protection for the 600 people drafted to make emergency repairs.

The ministry of labour said in a statement that inspectors had discovered “signs of informality in contracts” and working days of “up to 23 hours”.



Fines may be imposed, the ministry said.

Inspector Hercules Terra told the G1 news site that the absence of proper contracts for the workers meant that “if a worker suffers any sort of accident or is killed, then the family will not have this guarantee”.

About half of the buildings in the 31-building complex, which will house some 19,000 team members from around the world, have had issues.

But International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach, who arrived in Rio on Wednesday, said that “the remaining ones will be solved in the next 24 or 48 hours”.



Asked later how much the rush repair job was costing, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes responded: “I don’t know.”

Brazil is struggling to show it can cope with the pressure during a severe recession and political crisis.

Organisers are already facing questions over low ticket sales, public apathy, fears over the Zika virus, and a spike in street crime.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2016.

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