Teixeira: "The Water Belt works are progressing at a steady pace"

Ceara 247 - The works on the Water Belt (CAC) are "progressing at a measured pace," says the Secretary of Water Resources of Ceará (SRH), Francisco Teixeira. The head of the department attributes the slow progress of the project to the delay in the approval of the Annual Budget Law (LOA), which is scheduled to be voted on today at 20 pm by the National Congress. In January, approximately 4 workers were laid off from the project. The secretary confirmed that the works remain paralyzed in some sections, such as Missão Velha, Brejo Santo, Barbalha, and Crato.  

As part of fiscal adjustment measures, in February the federal government temporarily blocked R$ 32,6 billion in expenses earmarked for payments for works under the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC). The cut affected the Water Belt project. According to the Union of Workers in the Road Construction, Paving and Earthmoving Industries (Sintepav), which had been trying to negotiate, the companies responsible accuse the government of failing to transfer funds, but the state denies that it is not transferring the resources.

Teixeira also confirmed that the project's schedule will not be compromised and that work continues in the areas that were supposedly affected. The first phase of the Ceará Water Belt project spans 150 kilometers in the Cariri Region and is divided into five sections, which have not been interrupted and are continuing with activities.

The total investment for the Water Belt project is R$1,5 billion, with R$1,1 billion from the Federal Government and R$400 million as a counterpart from the State Government.