Rio Olympic Complex under Threat as Construction Firm Dismisses 570 Workers

04/02/2015 - 08h32

The construction firm Queiroz Galvão is threatening to stop work on the Deodoro Sports Complex in Rio de Janeiro, one of the main venues of the 2016 Olympic Games.

The company, which is carrying out the work in partnership with OAS, dismissed 70 employees on Wednesday (1) and gave prior notice to another 500, as Folha has learned. In total, there are 1000 workers on site.

The company told its employees that it is unable to pay them due to delays in payment by the city government of Rio de Janeiro.

Queiroz Galvão began work in August 2014, but only received the first payment for the work in January this year. The company was paid nearly R$60 million (US$19 million), but since then, has not received anything.

The contract is worth R$650 million (US$205 million) and stipulates monthly payment for the work. The situation is worrying, given the tight deadline for the start of the Games.

Both Queiroz Galvão and OAS are among the companies implicated in the Federal Police's Operation "Car Wash". They have been accused of bribing Petrobras employees for benefits in bidding and contracts with the company, of which the Brazilian state owns a controlling share.

The Rio city government said it had yet to be informed of the redundancies, while Queiroz Galvão declined to comment. The Olympic organizing committee said that it was unaware of the stoppage to construction work and reaffirmed its belief that the Deodoro complex will be ready on time.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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	Divulgação
	The Deodoro Sports Complex will host eleven Olympic and four Paralympic sports in 2016