In Brasília, Wilson asks for support from ministers to minimize impacts of drought

Brasilia DF) – In a meeting with ministers Silvio Costa (Ports and Airports), Waldez Góes (Integration and Regional Development) and the executive secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA), João Paulo Capobianco, this Wednesday (03), Governor Wilson Lima asked for support from the Federal Government to anticipate actions that minimize the impacts of the drought in Amazonas. The forecast is that the 2024 drought will be as severe or more severe than that recorded last year.

In the meeting with the ministers, at the MMA headquarters, in Brasília, the governor expressed his concerns regarding the need for humanitarian aid, economic support and strengthening the fight against fires and deforestation. He requested resources to support actions by the Government of Amazonas in the acquisition of food; the early dredging of rivers in the region to facilitate navigation; and logistical and human support for fighting fires and other environmental crimes.

“We have a series of actions: the issue of dredging the rivers, the issue of hiring firefighters, the advancement of our project with the Amazon Fund; integration with the Ministry of Integration at a time when we need, for example, a structure like we need from the Army, Navy and Air Force to be able to transport food to some communities. So, we came here to anticipate, present our concerns to the Federal Government and begin our planning”,

highlighted Wilson Lima.

The president of the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Natural Resources (Ibama), Rodrigo Agostinho, also participated in the meeting. The state secretary Eduardo Taveira (Environment) was with the governor in Brasília; the general commander of the Amazonas Military Fire Department, colonel Orleilso Muniz; the Executive Secretary of Civil Defense, Colonel Francisco Máximo; the director-president of the State Superintendency of Navigation, Ports and Waterways (SNPH), Jorge Barroso; and the Secretary of Federative and International Relations (Serfi), Inês Carolina Simonetti.

Measures and demands

Among the first measures announced by the Federal Government teams are the beginning, still in April, of a bidding process to hire dredgers that should be used from the middle of the year to remove sandbanks from rivers, facilitating navigation, and also the beginning of a process of hiring 300 firefighters to fight fires in the state during the most intense period of the drought.

The governor requested the Ministry of Ports and Airports to dredge the Madeira, Amazonas, Juruá and Purus rivers, depending on the low water levels. Maintenance of ports, airports and highways was also requested; use of Small Public Port Facilities (IP4), managed by the Federal Government; and leasing of vessels to set up water treatment plants in support of affected municipalities.

The Ministry of Regional Integration and Development was requested, among other items, to maintain the transfer of resources; acquisition of more than 300 thousand basic food baskets to serve families in municipalities that declare an Emergency Situation; acquisition of buckets, water boxes and hygiene and cleaning items; and logistical support for humanitarian aid deliveries.

To the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, the demands are, mainly, to send personnel of brigade members and soldiers from the National Force, as well as aircraft and vehicles, to reinforce actions to combat forest fires. The request is also to speed up the processing of the project presented by the State with the Amazon Fund, which foresees the implementation of fire brigades in 21 municipalities that represent 92% of the records of hot spots in the state.

Drought 2024

Since January, the State Government, through Civil Defense, has held meetings with various sectors such as industry and commerce, other public authorities, telecommunications companies and water and energy concessionaires to provide information and coordinate prevention actions in the face of the possibility of another severe drought in 2024. The objective is to ensure that essential services are not interrupted.

Drought 2023

In 2023, the state faced the most intense drought in history. The Government of Amazonas quickly responded to urgent needs, such as sending humanitarian aid to those affected by the severe drought, through Operation Drought 2023, with the involvement of 30 state agencies and direct investments of R$100 million. Among other actions, more than 95,800 basic food baskets were delivered.

*With information from consultancy

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