Rio mayor admits cutting funding from sewer cleaning

Rio Mayor Marcelo Crivella on Wednesday (June 21) admitted he cut funding from city maintenance services including cleaning of sewers to drain rainwater during floods. He put the cuts down to the city's economic crisis and pointed out the rainy season this year has continued into June (it typically ends in March).

“In the wet season we should be concerned about rain and in the dry season we should be concerned about security. It's all about management,” he said.

The city administration criticized the Rio Operations Center (COR) for failing to issue any advance warnings about the heavy rain, but claimed the city government was trying to avoid panic among the population over something that had not happened yet. In a statement, COR rebutted allegations it had failed to respond adequately to the problems caused by the heavy rain leading to flooding in several neighborhoods and people getting stranded in buses and cars or risking their lives by walking on flooded areas.

Translated by Mayra Borges