Rio de Janeiro, April 6 (IANS) The Olympic Park facilities here are practically ready four months before the inauguration of South America’s first Olympic Games, announced Roberto Ainbinder, the director of projects for the Municipal Olympic Company.
In a news conference with foreign correspondents within the Park on Monday, Ainbinder confirmed that 98 percent of the construction work has been finished. He also added that now the main concern of the municipal authorities has shifted towards how the city will operate during the sporting event, reports Xinhua.
“To keep the city ticking over with four regions being used in the Games everyday will be a challenge,” admitted Ainbinder.
Located in the Barra da Tujica region, the Olympic Park covers an area of 1.18 million square metres and includes the Cariocas Arenas (1, 2 and 3), the Future Arena which will house the basketball tournament and paralympic sports, the aquatic stadium, the Velodrome, the tennis centre, the main Press Centre and the International Broadcast Centre.
According to the director of the Olympic project, Rio de Janeiro is confident that there will be no problems as they are used to organising large-scale events such as Carnaval, the Pan American Games in 2007.