food-themed diamond exhibition on display and none of the country´s celebrated beer and frites (fries) to serve up.
“The beer is in a warehouse 500 metres (yards) from here but we couldn´t bring it in because the site was sealed off for a security sweep until 3:00 am (0100 GMT) this morning,” said Sebastien Steven, the pavilion´s restaurant manager. “We feel a bit let down. There has been a lot of disinformation.”
Bangladesh reported similar problems.
“We can´t open because we don´t have any staff,” said operations manager MD Abdul Matin.
“Our display was to be mainly cooking based but the chefs and other staff were all due to come from Bangladesh and the Italians have not granted their visas.”
An official at Ireland´s pavilion said: “Problems? Just a bit. Anything to do with accreditation here has been a complete nightmare.”
Ticketless visitors arriving by underground train faced 90-minute waits in the rain to get into the custom-built, 110-hectare site.
That was due to a combination of ticketing software problems and long queues for the airport-style security scanners.
Among those whose patience was tested were a mother and son from New Delhi who were supposed to be inside opening a stall selling Indian crafts for their non-profit organisation.
They told AFP organisers had been unable to provide them with security passes in time due to “backlogging” in the processing of participants.
“I have been going to world exhibitions since Montreal in 1967 and I have never seen anything like this. We´re quite angry,” said the woman who did not want to be identified.
Unable to have any of their craft items delivered, her son was carrying as many as he could in two large sacks.
“We´ve paid 200,000 euros ($225,000) to have the stall for the six months and we are having to buy daily tickets for 39 euros ($44) each just to get in. It´s ridiculous,” he said.
Organisers insisted the problems would be ironed out quickly.
But the “No Expo” movement does not look like it is going away.
“Our generation does not want this corporate bullshit,” one activist, who gave her name as Annalisa, told AFP.
The protesters have been angered by Expo´s reliance on volunteer workers, the involvement of corporations like McDonalds and Coca-Cola and a perception that much of the public money ploughed into the project has been lost to corruption.
Italy secured the rights to host the Expo seven years ago, long before Renzi came to power last year.
But he embraced it as an opportunity for the country to show the world that it is regaining its confidence and reinventing itself under his leadership.
The event plays to food-loving Italy´s strengths with its nutrition and gastronomy-based theme of “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”.
Organisers are predicting 20 million visitors over six months and a 10-billion-euro ($11-million) boost to economic activity.