While news stories about Rio's preparations for the World Cup are a dime a dozen and seem to pop up at regular intervals, I'm sharing this report from ESPN that's a tidy wrap-up of some of the issues surrounding the city's efforts for 2014. While it's not completely all-encompassing, the report touches on many of the challenges and controversies stemming from the World Cup preparations, and is especially useful for those who haven't been following the events as closely.
Another interesting thing about the report is that those interviewed really are some of the ones to watch for World Cup and Olympics analysis leading up to the games, and not just random talking heads. There's Julia Michaels of RioReal Blog, and if you read this blog, you surely know her already; Christopher Gaffney, an American professor at UFF in Rio who is studying the city's mega-event preparations and writes Hunting White Elephants; Rio state Congressman Marcelo Freixo, one of the city's political leaders intent on rooting out corruption and preventing abuses before the games; and veteran Brazilian sports journalist João Máximo, who writes a column for ESPN. They're a great group to follow for coverage and analysis of Rio's mega-event preparations, and you can access their blogs and/or Twitter accounts by clicking the links above.
Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, begins in Rio de Janeiro on June 20, a little over a month away. While the topics up for discussion are undoubtedly important, all signs point to the possibility that no binding resolution will result and it will be a lot of talking and little action. (For perspective, at one of the New York Rio+20 negotiations that lasted two weeks, the big decision to come out of it was to have more negotiations at the end of the month.) The likely more critical outcome will be a test of how Rio will handle a non-Carnival mega-event before the World Cup and Olympics, and as one of its first big events to turn the spotlight on Rio during the city's so-called renaissance.
On the one hand, Rio+20 comes at a time when more and more events are being held in Rio. According to International Congress and Convention Association, Rio surpassed São Paulo for the number of events held in the city last year. Rio now has a massive "smart city" operations center to monitor the city in real-time, which has aided in the day-to-day but will be especially helpful during large events. The Brazilian army is setting up a cybercrimes defense center in Rio in June right before the conference as a test before the World Cup and Olympics. The police are building their own operations center set to launch next month, also before the conference, and as RioReal Blog notes, people are losing sleep as the city faces deadlines and new goals set by city residents.
At the same time, Rio+20 will be an important test for two of Rio's biggest challenges for upcoming mega-events: accommodations and transportation. An estimated 50,000 people are expected to pour into the city for the conference, though the city only has around 26,000 hotel rooms. Everyone knew that hotels were charging obscenely exorbitant prices for the Rio+20 week, and the government reserved most rooms ahead of time. Several people have asked me about finding apartments, though those are also hard to come by.
However, when the European Parliament canceled its Rio+20 delegation this week--citing high costs at around 600 euros a night per room--suddenly more people started to pay attention. Reuters found that hotels are charging around 5 times the normal price. Now, President Dilma Rousseff along with federal congressmen are asking the Rio government to intervene and find a solution to the price gouging. It's an important lesson before 2014 and 2016, because inevitably the same thing will happen, even if Rio expands its hotel capacity by then. UPDATE: Apparently Rio's mayor has appealed to Cariocas to leave town and rent out their apartments to Rio+20 guests, while the Rio tourism bureau had planned to launch a website for apartment rentals that never materialized, says the AP.
As for transportation, Rio is working on extending the metro system, improving and expanding highways, and building the TransCarioca, a bus rapid transit system to connect Rio's international airport to Barra da Tijuca in the city's West Zone. But the metro hasn't reached Barra yet and the TransCarioca isn't finished, but the conference will take place at Riocentro, the city's convention center--located in Barra. That means that the large majority of attendees will likely be staying in Zona Sul or downtown and will have to get to Barra by bus or cab, which will undoubtedly lead to some major traffic jams. But Barra is already a nightmare to get to on a normal day: Cariocas complain that commuting to or from Barra to other parts of the city can take up two hours or more during rush hour. Since traffic is pretty much inevitable, it may help to put more pressure on the city to work faster on crticial infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, the Cachoeira corruption scandal brewing in Brasília is threatening to get closer to Rio every day. Rio's governor was caught in photos of European jaunts with the former head of Delta, the construction company at the heart of the scandal. Delta is one of the largest construction companies in Brazil, but 99 percent--yes, 99 percent--of its contracts are with the government. It was the company responsible for reforming Maracanã and for helping build the TransCarioca, but since the scandal broke, the company removed itself from bothprojects. Now, the company is being taken over J&F, the controlling shareholder of JBS, Brazil and the world's largest meatpacking company. Interestingly, BNDES, Brazil's government-run development bank that funds infrastructure projects across Brazil, has a 31.4 percent stake in JBS.
Crime is unlikely to be an issue, though it may be the top worry for many visitors. The city tends to go on lockdown during large events and is actually a time when crime overall seems to drop. In the end, Rio+20 should help identify remaining challenges for the upcoming mega-events, even if the thousands of delegates at the conference fail to agree on anything.
I came across The Rio Blog by way of Julia Michaels, a really interesting Tumblr by Michael Jerome Wolff, a political science doctoral student living in Rio de Janeiro and Recife. The blog depicts life in each city's favelas and an on-the-ground perspective of the favela pacification process. I spoke to Michael about his blog and his time in Brazil, as well as his take on Rio's security policies.
What brought you to Rio and Recife, and what are you working on while you're there? Had you already lived in/visited Brazil before?
I first came to Brazil in 2008 and stayed two months, with the objective of learning Portuguese. The following year, I returned, and that time stayed for eight months, splitting my time between Rio de Janeiro and Recife. As crime and violence are a particularly ubiquitous concern in both places—and in Rio the situation is cinematographically dramatic—I succumbed to the woeful intrigue of studying it. In 2011 I received a Social Science Research Council (SSRC) fellowship to sponsor a year of research in both Rio and Recife, and that is what I am currently doing.
What is the idea behind your blog and what are your goals for it?
The idea for the blog came from two English friends of mine whose wedding I photographed just days before I left for Brazil. Both artists, they have been publicizing their work for years via blogs. Knowing that I love to write and photograph, they forced me to open my own blog, which almost immediately became my most pampered hobby. At the time I had no expectation that anyone would read or view it, but the remote possibility of an audience created an incentive to structure my photos and reflective writings about my research in an attractive and meaningful way. Originally I intended it to be simply a matter of personal expression, but as I realized that people out in the web world actually read it from time to time, I focused also on its informative aspect.
That said, it is far from a news blog, as I never intended it to closely follow individual current events. I see it more as a structured reflection on the nuanced politics of public security in Rio de Janeiro and Recife, oriented by, but by no means beholden to, the research norms and goals of social science. And, of course, it is a focused outlet for my photography obsession.
Why is photography an important part of the blog, especially showing what's going on behind the scenes in Rio's favelas?
The invention of the photograph in the mid-1800s dramatically changed journalism and historical documentation by immortalizing and making “real” far off phenomena that would otherwise be lost to the futile abstraction of wordy concepts. Whether a photograph portrays the “truth” or emboldens a shady stereotype, the sure thing is that it has the capacity to humanize events and situations for the far-off viewer in an immediate and emotionally powerful way.
This is, in essence, what I am attempting to do with my photography in the blog: humanize and make “real” all that is happening behind the scenes in Rio and Recife’s complicated drama of crime and violence and public security. Who are the winners and losers? The perpetrators and victims? The innocent and not-so-innocent bystanders? Where is all of this happening? What is the visual “feel” of the stage upon which all these actors play out the ineffable tragedy?
You've been on the ground during Rio's favela pacification process. What's your take on the UPPs and the effect they're having on the local communities?
To begin, I would emphasize that the UPPs should in no way be treated as a panacea for the public security problems of Rio de Janeiro, nor should they be understood as a serious assault on drug trafficking and consumption of illegal drugs. To be sure, serious crime and violence will continue in Rio de Janeiro until the city’s obscene social inequalities are reversed. And illegal drugs will be sold for as long as they are illegal and as long as popular demand remains high.
What the UPPs are first and foremost intended to do, and for the most part have done so successfully, is to dismantle the armed territorial authority structures of drug trafficking gangs. This represents a dramatic change both for favela residents and for outsiders who visit or work in favelas. Although there may have existed a relative peace under the domain of well-armed and organized drug gangs, there were previously no institutionalized guarantees of security for anyone. The stability of gang governance, too, was always fragile and prone to violent conflict that threatened the community in a random and deadly way. I think it is fair to say that in most of the smaller favelas of Rio’s wealthy South Side, the UPPs represent a predominately positive change, having brought greater security (from violent conflict) and greater commercial and social integration with formal neighborhoods.
That said, there are some serious challenges that cause doubt about the overall success of the program. A few issues merit special mention: - None of the large favelas thus far pacified are particularly pacific or free from the competitive power mongering of drug gangs, putting to question geography as a barrier to effective policy implementation. - Pacification is often accompanied by an increase in property crimes and interpersonal violence in areas where drug gangs had been particularly effective guarantors of community security. - Other State institutions have been slow to follow suit, putting the onus of public security solely the police while leaving the myriad other social problems unattended. - If the pacification program remains incomplete geographically—and it very well might, due to a lack of political will to expand the policy to the greater metropolitan area—the structure of crime, violence, and corruption will spread to other areas and create an even greater monster than that which the UPPs hoped to confront in the first place.
How does all of this affect favela communities themselves? On one hand, it is a repressive affront to the unique culture of communities that for decades have lived under the laissez-faire dictatorships of drug gangs. On the other hand, it allows for a much greater social integration and, by consequence, a social mobility that had previously been blocked by the duality of legitimate and criminal governing authorities. In any case, the program’s future, I believe, is still up in the air.
Some argue that one of the biggest threats to security in Rio are its militias, which you've also written about. What's your view on the militias and how the state and city are addressing them?
The common argument that militias are the greatest threat to security in Rio de Janeiro comes from the fact that they are highly professional organizations deeply infiltrated into the security, judicial, and electoral institutions of the State, making them impervious to prosecution while eating away like cancer at the heart of Brazil’s young democracy.
My personal view, however, is that the threat of militias is somewhat exaggerated. Notwithstanding uncertainty, my studies of organized crime and recent history in Rio suggests to me that the territorial expansion and the ultimate extension of political power of these paramilitary-type groups are limited by the logic of the type of crime committed. In the tune of science (or political) fiction, it is completely plausible to foresee a complete criminalization of the democratic process at the hands of militias in Brazil. I don’t predict that, however. In fact, I fully expect drug gangs fleeing from pacified favelas to overwhelm most of those communities succumbed to militias during the last six or eight years.
How does the security situation compare in Recife to that of Rio?
Recife’s homicide rate is nearly twice that of Rio de Janeiro, and the city has won the title as the most violent of Brazil’s state capitals. Muggings, car-jackings, bank robberies, and other violent assaults are rampant, and this violence has seriously affected social and commercial activity here. To compare Rio and Recife in a heartbeat, I would stay that while Rio’s security situation is characterized by a much more sophisticated and cinematographic type of violence, Recife is by and large a more dangerous city to live and work in for almost anyone. That said, since violent crime is less tied into local political structures here, intelligent and integral public security policies may have a greater chance at success than in Rio.
With municipal elections coming up in 2012, one of the people to watch is Rio de Janeiro state Congressman Marcelo Freixo, who is running for mayor of Rio. Though he faces an uphill battle at the polls--a recent Ibope survey found that incumbent Eduardo Paes leads with 36 percent, and Freixo is behind with only 7 percent--he's become a national player because of his outspoken stance on security issues and his fame as a fictionalized character in the Tropa de Elite movies. He also was in the headlines last month when he fled Brazil after an increase in death threats. He says that unlike the press reported, he hadn't previously planned to give speeches with Amnesty International, and that it was in fact an emergency trip for security.
Freixo, who worked as a teacher and a human rights advocate in Rio prisons, has tirelessly worked to fight the city's militias. He's also in favor of gun control and of changing drug policy. He believes that security problems in Rio involving militias and drug traffickers are a national problem that require more political will to effectively tackle. But he may have trouble getting votes for mayor: in recent interviews, he acknowledged that he's at a disadvantage in terms of campaign financing, and may have a hard time pulling ahead of Paes. Even if he's not elected, he's likely to remain an important political figure in Rio, especially in terms of security and combatting corruption.
Revista Trip recently published an excellent interview with Freixo, which you can read here. In it, he describes his theory of the "auctioned state" in Rio, in which the government selectively decides where it will provide services and security. He also discusses his long battle with the militias and their influence in Rio.
Rede TV also aired an interesting interview with him, which you can watch below.
In the second part of the Brazil Challenges series, I'm going to discuss the transportation situation in Rio de Janeiro. While São Paulo gets a bad rap for traffic, Rio is becoming just as bad. Over the past few months, it's become a favorite Carioca complaint on social networks. People post photos of gridlock traffic (particularly in Barra and Lagoa) on Facebook and Twitter and complain about how many hours they've been on the road. (I can also attest to the growing traffic - a few months ago, I got stuck in a traffic jam on one of the city's largest highways--at 5am). Several Twitter channels, like radio station Band News, narrate traffic jams in real time.
Fellow blogger Quintino Gomes of Diário do Rio has been writing about the traffic problem on his blog and Facebook. In a recent post, he described a two-hour car ride to go 30 kilometers, and commented: "While before, traffic jams were something that happened once in awhile, now it's an everyday occurence in Rio." On December, a bus caught on fire in a tunnel on the Yellow Line, causing a mega traffic jam in the whole city, the second in the past few months. On the Caos Carioca blog, the writer lamented that when an incident happens like the fire in the tunnel, "the whole city turns into a knot." He pointed out that a single incident has a domino effect, turning into a "catastrophic chain."
Given that work has started on improving the city's infrastructure - namely, expanding the metro, which has been slowly growing over the past few years - why is the traffic getting worse?
First, there are more cars on the road. With unemployment down, rising salaries, and increased access to credit, more and more people are able to buy and lease cars. In June, there were 67.5 million registered vehicles in Brazil, and as of early November, over 3 million vehicles were sold in Brazil this year.
Second, the roads are an issue. Because of Rio's mountainous landscape, the city's highways are connected by a series of tunnels, and when there's an accident in or near the tunnels, there is in fact a domino effect. Also, one of the biggest problems is how the city connects to Barra and Recreio, in the city's West Zone. There are only two main points access from the South Zone: one, through a tunnel passing Rocinha, and another on a two-lane road on the waterfront (it makes traffic jams easier to bear, given the spectacular views). There's always been bad traffic going to and from Barra (which is why I eventually tried to avoid going to Barra as much as possible), but it's gotten even worse. For those who live or work in Barra, it makes the day to day a nightmare.
Finally, there's the issue of public transportation. The metro, arguably one of the best forms of getting around the city, is relatively limited in its trajectory with only two lines, and is more expensive than some buses, at R$3.10 per ride. (It also doesn't run all night.) While expanding the line to Barra could really help alleviate traffic, it's going to cause more traffic in the meantime as they build the line from Leblon and shut down parts of roads. While there are plenty of buses to choose from, the proliferation of lines and the number of companies operating them has also contributed to more traffic. (The bus companies are also, unsurprisingly, opposed to extending the metro). While buses are one of the cheapest ways to get around, starting at R$2.35 per ride, with a farther reach than the metro, there are also vans and kombis. They originally came about as a cheaper alternative to buses, and functioned outside of the officially sanctioned forms of transportation. Now, the city is trying to legalize vans, by making them apply for the right documentation and also allowing passengers to pay with the bilhete único, which will also work on buses, trains, ferries, and the metro. The ferry is also an efficient way to get from Rio to Niterói, though it's come under criticism after a recent accident and a proposed fare hike.
And then, there are the trains. These commuter trains connect parts of Rio's North and West Zones, as well as suburban outskirts, with the rest of the city. Despite purchasing some gleaming new cars for the Pan American Games in 2007, the trains are possibly the worst way to get around Rio. It's always overcrowded, with far too many people squeezed into each car. The trains are not reliable; they sometimes are delayed by shootouts, or break down on the tracks. In fact, in the past two weeks there were two break downs, one near Belford Roxo and another near Oswaldo Cruz, and passengers got out of the train to "occupy" the tracks in protest. One passenger was spotted posting a sign on the train that read: "We want improvements. We're not clowns."
A Liga, a Brazilian TV show, did an excellent report on public transportation in Rio a few months ago, showing how using buses and trains often take hours for commuters -- one man took four hours to get from Leblon to the suburbs on a Friday evening, for example. It also shows ingenious solutions where transportation is lacking. In one area, people began using horse-drawn carts to get to and from the train station, since there are no buses, and an enterprising businessman bought a tiny boat to get across the bay each day for work.
Amid the hype, particularly in the American media, about Rio's World Cup and Olympics preparations, local transportation often gets lost in the mix. Much more so than crime, violence, hotel capacity, or airport infrastructure, I think this is going to be one of the biggest challenges for the mega events. But more importantly, it's become a serious daily struggle for millions of Rio commuters, and will likely be a key issue in the 2012 municipal elections as residents demand change.
I apologize for the lack of updates this week, but it's been busy with the Thanksgiving holiday. So while I prepare a few longer posts, I'd thought I'd comment briefly on some of the news from Brazil this week.
Chevron oil spill
While all oil spills are devastating, this incident has something of a small silver lining. The spill has awakened even more nationalist sentiment at a time when Brazil's congress is debating oil royalties, and has been a wake up call about the risks of offshore drilling and a reminder that tapping Brazil's enormous oil wealth won't be easy and can potentially have negative consquences. Much of the national public discourse about the pre-salt oil fields has focused on the potential profits and who they will benefit, but with very little focus on logistics or risks. Chevron has taken the blame for the spill, had to pay millions in fines, and now has been forbidden to drill in Brazil, but the incident also shed light on the fact that the Brazilian government needs better preparation for offshore accidents. Some believe Brazilian government agencies were also ill-prepared and slow to act, which compounded Chevron's delayed response. And though Chevron partnered with Petrobras and Japanese firm Frade Japao in the field in question, so far only Chevron was being held responsible, despite the fact that Brazilian law dictates that "all members of an oil partnership are "jointly and severally" responsible for their field or concession," according to Reuters. In short, the spill, which is terrible but fortunately is not near the scale of the BP disaster, has raised a lot of important issues that will need to be addressed.
Rio policeman absolved of murder
The second policeman accused of murdering a three-year old in Rio's Tijuca neighborhood in 2008 was absolved by a jury yesterday. The policemen allege they confused a car with a mother and her two children with the car of fleeing criminals. The two cops fired seventeen shots on the car, and João Roberto was killed with a rifle shot to the head. The case has become emblematic of Rio's ongoing problem with police brutality, and with the second acquittal, it has become another example of another nationwide challenge of impunity.
Pacification update
Police have arrested several drug traffickers who fled Rocinha before troops moved in to pacify the favela. One trafficker was found in Bangu, in the Zona Oeste, where he was living. Another trafficker, who ran trafficking operations in Vidigal, the favela near Rocinha which was pacified the same weekend, was arrested in Realengo, also in the Zona Oeste. Today, the girlfriend of Rocinha drug kingpin Nem was arrested in Rocinha, where she was found at a beauty salon. In Complexo do Alemão, a large favela pacified last year, drug traffickers exchanged gunfire with soldiers stationed there with the pacification forces, and one soldier was shot. Another man was shot and killed in Alemão the following day. Today, the Institute of Public Security in Rio released a report that says homicides have declined 9 percent in Alemão and nearby Vila Cruzeiro. Pacification forces have brought more stability to favelas where they have been installed, but residents have repeatedly claimed that drug traffickers continue to quietly operate with impunity. It also seems that as some analysts observe, criminals escaping pacified favelas may be heading to the Zona Oeste.
Congressman accuses Dilma of being gay
This week, notoriously homophobic Rio Congressman Jair Bolsonaro accused President Dilma of being gay during an angry speech on the floor of the Chamber of Deputies. While criticizing a controversial video created by the Ministry of Education to combat homophobia, he shouted, "Dilma Rousseff, stop lying. If you like homosexuals, say it. If your thing is love for homosexuals, admit it. But don't let your cowardice into our schools." Other members of congress criticized Bolsonaro's outburst and demanded action be taken against him.
Corruption scandals update
While the latest minister accused of corruption, the Minister of Labor, has yet to fall, another minister has come under fire. The Minister of Cities has been accused of fraud involving an infrastructure project for the World Cup in Cuiabá. (Also, this week, The Economist has an interesting story on Dilma's crackdown on corrupt ministers.) But it's not just Dilma's cabinet in the spotlight for corruption. On Friday, the public prosecutor's office in São Paulo succeeded in freezing the assets of Gilberto Kassab, the mayor of São Paulo, who is accused of fraud involving contracts with the city's vehicle inspection company.
Early this morning, 3,000 police and soldiers arrived in Rocinha, the biggest slum in Rio, all of Brazil, and even Latin America, to begin the process of pacification. They arrived heavily armed, some in armored tanks. By the afternoon, troops hoisted the state and national flags, declaring the favela under state control. The massive operation met no resistance, and not a single shot was fired.
As some predicted, the occupation was peaceful. Rocinha, after all, does suffer from violence, but less in comparison to other favelas, notably Complexo do Alemão, which is known as Rio's "Gaza Strip." Rocinha is also a place constantly frequented by outsiders: Cariocas from around the city for funk parties, foreigners and Cariocas working for local NGOs, and tourists. Since the initial occupation was mostly uneventful, it left many wondering why such a massive operation with such intensive media coverage was necessary.
The name of the operation itself seemed an oxymoron: Operação Choque de Paz, or Operation Shock of Peace. It was hardly a shock, given that the occupation was announced well in advance and everyone knew it was coming, and wasn't so much of a military "shock" given the lack of violence. While the capture of Rocinha's top drug trafficker helped avoid a clash during the occupation, other traffickers had time to flee. Since several police officers and traffickers were arrested "escorting" some of the traffickers during Nem's failed escape, it's likely other drug traffickers had ample time to leave Rocinha before the occupation. (In the past, though, some of the traffickers simply moved out of newly pacified favelas into other favelas.) Conspiracy theorists even speculated if the state government made a deal with traffickers to leave before the operation.
A PR success for the Rio government
Security forces encountered no resistance from traffickers, except for trash left blocking some streets and oil poured on the roads in Rocinha and Vidigal (a nearby favela that was also occupied) intended to make the streets slippery. By announcing the massive operation ahead of time and raising the possibility of clashes between traffickers and police, the state government guaranteed its success with the eventual absence of violence by exceeding expectations. Also, by demonstrating a show of force, the state government also gave Rio's middle and upper classes, as well as the foreign community de olho before the World Cup and Olympics, a sign that it's serious about combatting crime and imposing order.
Those responsible for the operation made sure to not only overprepare, but also to publicize preparations. In doing so, the occupation woud already be more successful than the bloody Alemão occupation. The government set up a temporary hospital right outside the favela (based on the MINUSTAH model from Haiti), with other hospitals and ambulances on standby, and shut down traffic near the favela. They also published the transportation and medical parts of the plan on a map prior to the operation.
Government planners also made sure to publicize the "show of force." BOPE, Rio's special ops team, published a photo on Twitter of Security Secretary José Mariano Beltrame speaking to troops before the operation, in what seemed like a scene from Tropa de Elite. BOPE also posted photos on Twitter from the operation itself. The operation brought armored tanks, trucks, and helicopters to the favela. The tanks arrived by coming through Leblon, one of Rio's wealthiest neighborhoods (photos here and video here), creating quite a spectacle. It's as if army tanks rolled down Park Avenue on the Upper East Side on the way to the South Bronx. It was surreal.
During the operation, police found drugs, weapons, and ammunition left by traffickers, as well as the abandoned luxury homes of head traffickers Nem and Peixe (see photos here, and more here). Police arrested at least four people, including a trafficker who'd escaped from prison and one of Nem's accountants.
A media circus?
Some speculated that the operation was created to feed a media circus. Indeed, there was tons of international coverage, as well as live blogging from Globo (here and here) with live news, videos, and photos. Many reporters had on bulletproof vests. Live TV coverage from Al Jazeera showed its Brazil correspondent in full protective gear, with a helmet and bulletproof vest. Globo also did extensive live TV coverage as the operation was underway, though it was in the early hours of the morning.
But the media's presence was better than no media coverage at all, even if it went a bit overboard. The fact that so many journalists and cameras were present for the occupation may have prevented abuses that took place during previous occupations, or even violence. In the end, there was a great deal of transparency.
Also, it wasn't just the media covering the operation. Local activists, NGOs, and residents were reporting on the events on Twitter, and continued vigilance from these groups will hopefully ensure against abuses from the police and military (or at least expose those abuses).
What now for the community?
Now that Rocinha has been "pacified," the government will officially install UPP units in Rocinha in the coming months. But until then, residents are still waiting for Rocinha to be integrated into the rest of the city. The first service being offered even prior to the occupation was cheap cable TV, but formal electric lines, water, sanitation, and internet remain to be seen. Also, improved roads, sidewalks, and transportation will be a continuing challenge. In addition, residents also hope for better public services, including schools, hospitals, and sanitation.
Al Jazeera released an interesting report today on the UPP program worth watching that sums up both the good and the bad of the program, and what to expect as more UPPs are created.
