Officials slam badly lit Olympic Village as ‘unlivable’
The Olympic Village is not up to scratch and lacks good lighting, international officials are claiming.
The Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro has been described as ‘unsafe’ and ‘unlivable’ just two weeks before the Games are set to begin.
No lighting has been installed in the stairwells of the 31, 17 storey tower blocks that comprise the largest accommodation site in Olympic history.
Australian Olympic officials have said that they will refuse to let their team move in unless the lighting issues are rectified, an issue which they say will put their athletes at risk if left unresolved.
Great Britain, the USA, Italy and New Zealand have also raised complaints with Olympic officials and some athletes plan to boycott the village.
Other maintenance problems have also been reported such as blocked toilets, leaking pipes, exposed wiring and dirty floors.
Rio officials are said to have dispatched a team of cleaners and electricians to solve the snagging issues and in the mean time some athletes are being offered accommodation in hotels.
As hosts, what we want is for everyone to feel at home. It is natural that you have some kind of adjustments to do, but we will make the Australians feel at home here
The Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Janeiro Eduardo Paes, responded to the Australian criticism by claiming that the Rio Olympic Village was considerably better than the one provided by Sydney for the 2000 games.
‘As hosts, what we want is for everyone to feel at home. It is natural that you have some kind of adjustments to do, but we will make the Australians feel at home here,’ the mayor said in response to the criticism.
'I almost feel like putting a kangaroo in front of their building to make them feel at home,’ Paes concluded.
Essentials aside, the Olympic Village apartments do come with air-conditioning and mosquito repellers in an attempt to prevent another major problem set to threaten the 2016 Games, the Zika virus.
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