No “belt-tightening” in social programs, Rousseff says
Rousseff defended the construction works from attacks and highlighted the project's size–almost 500 kilometers of canals–, granting ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the "political will" to carry out the project.
President Dilma Rousseff recognized that the government is facing economic difficulties, but said there will be no "belt-tightening" in the budget of social programs. She announced it on Friday (Aug, 21) during the inauguration of the first pumping station of the North Axis of the São Francisco river transposition works, in Cabrobó, in Pernambuco.
"Just like at home we sometimes face some difficulties with the budget, that happens with the federal government. And just as you have to choose where to tighten the belts, so do we. To take the country forwards, we're not tightening the belts in essential programs, like this one."
Rousseff defended the government's role of creating opportunities for Brazilians to have equal conditions, regardless of the region where they live. According to the president, the problems will not be overcome with pessimism.
"Are we having difficulties? Yes, we are. No one should sugarcoat anything. But to think that everything is bad is not the best way we can keep channels open. We build water channels running into difficulties and surmounting them with plenty of water, with great strength in the heart and with great hope," said the president, suggesting an analogy with the waters of the São Francisco river transposition.
In her 30-minute speech, the president defended the construction works from attacks and highlighted the project's size–almost 500 kilometers of canals–, granting ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the "political will" to carry out the project. She also pointed out that the idea of pumping São Francisco waters to the driest regions in the Northeast has existed since Brazil was ruled by Emperor D. Pedro I.
"It was necessary to elect a northeasterner as the president, someone who had been nearly expelled from his home and moved to São Paulo; he knew the value, the price in terms of life, in terms of prospects for future and hope, imposed by the drought upon the northeastern population. Thus, the will to do [something] was very important."
The president said that the entire project will be completed by December 2016. Once finished, the transposition will benefit 12 million people, according to the Ministry of National Integration.
The Pumping Station EBI -1 pumps the water from San Francisco to a height up to 36 meters. It will allow water to go through 45.9 km of canals and reach two reservoirs.
Drought
Rousseff also noted that the transposition works will add to the strategy of pipelines and the construction of canals throughout Northeast, in order to help the local population to better live under drought conditions, removing the negative consequences of drought on their life and on agricultural production.
"The first reports on the Northeast drought date back to the 16th century, i.e., for more than four centuries we know that the region suffers from drought. The works aim to help us Brazilians, northeasterners, to live with drought. We cannot prevent it from happening. Only God knows whether it will or will not rain. What can we do and what could we do? To store water, to bring water from somewhere else, in order to ensure that at the time of drought, we can count on that water," she noted.
The Pumping Station EBI -1 pumps the water from San Francisco to a height up to 36 meters. It will allow water to go through 45.9 km of canals and reach two reservoirs.
Translated by Amarílis Anchieta
Fonte: No “belt-tightening” in social programs, Rousseff says
