For works on slopes, the government allocates R$1.7 billion

The federal government allocated R$1.7 billion to slope containment projects in Brazil, within the New Growth Acceleration Program (PAC). For Rio Grande do Sul, in a calamity situation due to the floods that killed more than 100 people, it will be R$152 million for the slopes alone. The resources are within a total of R$18.3 billion, announced yesterday by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In the coming weeks, the government will also announce a contribution from the New PAC for drainage.

Despite the investment, the announced program will not be the main tool to finance infrastructure against flooding in Rio Grade do Sul. According to the Minister of Cities, Jader Filho, more than 200 municipalities affected in the state have never had flooding. Therefore, as they were not classified as risk areas, they were not eligible for selection for the New PAC.

“In Rio Grande do Sul alone, more than 200 municipalities that are currently in a state of emergency, before this climate event, were not in risk areas. They could not even participate in the PAC selection criteria for slopes and drainage”, he explained. Jader Filho.

Of the R$18.3 billion announced yesterday for the entire country, R$10.6 billion is allocated to renewing the vehicle fleet; R$5.3 billion for the upgrading of favelas; R$400 million for water supply in rural areas; and R$313 million for urban land regularization — in addition to R$1.7 billion for hillsides.

Jader highlighted that the proposals presented to contain landslides in Rio Grande do Sul were accepted for the PAC — two in Porto Alegre and one in Santa Maria, totaling R$152 million. The next selection, which should be announced later this month, will have R$4.8 billion for financing works across the country, but will prioritize cities in Rio Grande do Sul.

The next phase of the New PAC will not include cities that are not included in the list of hydrological and geological risk areas. The inclusion is carried out by bodies such as Civil Defense and the National Center for Natural Disaster Monitoring and Alerts (Cemaden).

“Warning to all of us”

In announcing the measures, Lula called the calamity in Rio Grande do Sul “a warning to all of us” about the danger of climate change. “I don’t know what happened on planet Earth, but what happened in Rio Grande do Sul is a warning to all of us. We need to be aware that the Earth is taking its toll. We don’t have the size of it (flood) yet. We The scale of what this climate disaster was will only be true when the water returns to normal”, stated the president.

Lula also recalled that investing in infrastructure does not win votes. “This business of burying manila, to collect human waste, is not correct. The ideal is to build bridges and viaducts, because you can put the name of the relative, the honoree, and people see it. People don’t take into account that when the People make investments in a slope, ensuring that people will no longer die in landslides in this country”, he stressed.

TCU inspection

The president of the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU), Bruno Dantas, defined how the Court will monitor the use of resources to be allocated to the recovery of the dozens of cities affected by the floods in Rio Grande do Sul. In a meeting with deputies from the Inspection and Control Committee of the Chamber, Dantas informed parliamentarians that three axes of supervision will be created — and defined who the reporting ministers at the Court will be responsible for each of them.

Costs and expenses relating to hiring and transportation will be the responsibility of Minister Vital do Rêgo. “It is one of the most important parts because it will involve tenders carried out by the federal government, the states and the municipalities. It is a part that will also involve the highway and the renovation of the airport (Salgado Filho)”, said Dantas.

The issues that deal with Civil Defense action will be under the supervision of Minister Augusto Nardes, a former PP parliamentarian, who is from Rio Grande do Sul. And the third axis presented by the president of the TCU deals with the fiscal issue — Congress approved the legislative decree that recognized the state of public calamity in the state and which will also make the allocation of resources more flexible and accelerate the transfer of funds to Rio Grande do South.

“It’s a fiscal issue, already approved by Congress, which allowed the mitigation of the primary in the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF) and the spending limit for this year will be left out. We will monitor it so as not to compromise the public debt or anything like that. gender”, said Dantas, who highlighted the minister Jhonatan de Jesus to carry out this monitoring.

President of the Inspection Committee, deputy Joseildo Ramos (PT-BA) is committed to working together with the TCU to monitor the application of public money in the recovery of Rio Grande do Sul.