Editorial Coverage Sponsored By FINIS
Amidst doping scandal and inadequate housing, safety concerns are again rising to the forefront in Rio. The security contract for the Olympic Games was awarded less than a month ago, on July 1.
In 2012, the contract was awarded a year in advance, while for the 2010 Winter Olympics, screeners were secured 10 months before the Games. The timeline has been called “staggering” by Benjamin Yelin, a security expert.
The contract (equivalent to $5.3 million) went to Artel Recursos Humanos. According to The Wall Street Journal “The firm has little or no experience providing screeners for megaevents” and “isn’t a major player in Brazil’s security industry.” Fulfilling the contract will require hiring and training 6,000 screeners on a tight timeline.
An Olympic spokesman claimed, “Rio is likely to be the safest city in the world during the Games,” as 85,000 police and military personnel will also be working the event. A group of Brazilian police offices, Forca Nacional, will be overseeing the private screeners. That group, along with local safety forces, have threatened to strike over their own living conditions in Rio.
With terror concerns on the rise, there is also concern over a lack of cameras. While initial plans included adding 315 surveillance cameras to Olympic venues, those cameras will no longer be added.
Read more from The Wall Street Journal here.
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Interesting that the Rio mascots are Pokemon. #meowth #oddish
It’s a shame that money and greed always comes before what matters.