Government expands water supply in the Northeast.
The largest water infrastructure project in the country, the São Francisco River Integration Project, will expand the supply of treated water to nearly 20 families living near the eastern and northern axes of the project; the bidding process for the development of projects that will benefit 325 communities in the states of Bahia, Ceará, Paraíba, and Pernambuco was published this week in the Official Gazette of the Union; the study will receive investments of approximately R$ 15 million and should begin within 90 days.
MI - The largest water infrastructure project in the country, the São Francisco River Integration Project, will also bring treated water supply to nearly 20 families living near the East and North Axes of the project. The bidding process for the development of the executive designs for these supply systems, which will cover 325 communities in the states of Bahia, Ceará, Paraíba, and Pernambuco, was published this week in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU). The study will receive investments of approximately R$ 15 million and should begin within 90 days, under the supervision of the National Department of Works Against Drought (DNOCS), of the Ministry of National Integration.
The winning company in the bidding process will be responsible for developing projects to build water supply systems in communities located up to five kilometers from the North and East Axes of the São Francisco Integration Project canals. These include rural villages, quilombola communities, indigenous communities, and INCRA settlements across 25 cities in the semi-arid Northeast region of Brazil. This action is part of the 38 Environmental Programs developed by the Ministry of National Integration.
The Water Supply Infrastructure Implementation Program will guarantee access to treated water for 19,6 families. The bidding process also includes a socioeconomic diagnosis of these villages. Based on this survey, DNOCS will define the locations that, in addition to receiving water supply systems, will be provided with a raw water reservoir for watering animals and irrigating small vegetable gardens around them. "The project will identify the areas that will allow the installation of a green space. This will benefit small rural producers," explains the DNOCS coordinator in Pernambuco, Rosana Bezerra.
The expectation is that construction of the water supply systems will begin in the second half of 2014. Rosana Bezerra says that some of these locations may have their delivery date brought forward. "We have developed a work plan through which the executive projects will be delivered in sections. As the studies are completed in the first communities visited, we will begin construction as quickly as possible," predicts the DNOCS coordinator in Pernambuco.
São Francisco Project - A project of the Federal Government, funded by the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), the São Francisco Project will guarantee water security for 12 million people living in 390 municipalities in the semi-arid and arid regions of the states of Pernambuco, Ceará, Paraíba, and Rio Grande do Norte.
The Ministry of National Integration has intensified the pace of work on the project. Since December of last year, seven work orders have been issued, five for the North Axis (two for Goal 2N; one for Goal 1N; two for supervision of the works of the entire North Axis) and two for the East Axis (supervision of the works of the entire East Axis; and for Goals 1L and 2L). As a result, in six months, more than 1.300 people have been hired to work on the São Francisco project. In total, more than 5.350 workers are employed.