More than 100 State and Government chiefs have already requested permission to speak during the United Nations Conference on the Sustainable Development (Rio+20), that will be held in Rio de Janeiro from June 20th to June 22nd this year. The information was disclosed by the Secretary of the National Organization Committee of Rio+20, Laudemar Aguiar. According to him, 84 countries have already requested accomodations for their State and Government chiefs during the conference. “That is a good sign for us [on the number of world leaders attending the meeting], although of course we do not know how many will actually come”, said Aguiar. According to the secretary, there is a concern regarding the hosting of the delegations, since the Brazilian government has reserved half of the existing rooms in four or five stars hotels in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which is enough for the conference guests. Aguiar believes, however, that the hotel chains in Rio de Janeiro, like many cities that have a limited supply of rooms, will not be able to absorb all the conference participants. For the official conference alone, to be held at Rio Centro, 50,000 people should be registered to attend. According to him, the Brazilian government is investigating and talking to the Brazilian Association of Hotels (ABIH), about allegations on the abusive increase in the price of hotel rates in the capital city during the conference. Aguiar also emphasized that the circulation of State and government chiefs will be made on convoys that will have a priority in the city streets during the conference. “When they pass by, there will be adjustments to traffic for the passage of those convoys, which are a priority. We are using the same parameters that are used by the UN and by the ceremonial of the Republic”, he said. According to the secretary, it will be encouraged the use of public transportation by the population. That includes the sale in advance of an electronic ticket, to be used by passengers on trains, subways and buses during the conference. According to him, a request to the city to enact holiday between 20 and 22 June will be done very soon.
