Drought: Federal government will allocate R$141 million for works on affected rivers in the North

The federal government will release R$141 million for works to maintain safety in vessel traffic in the northern region of the country.

The work should take place on the Solimões River waterway, in the stretches between the municipalities of Tabatinga and Benjamin Constant and the Tabocal region on the Amazon River, which together total 20km. The work is expected to begin in the next few days.

The announcement was made by the federal government at a meeting this Tuesday (26), in Brasília, with the presence of the ministers of Transport, Renan Filho, and of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, in addition to the federal bench of Amazonas.

“The works of these R$ 141 million that were allocated by the Ministry of Transport, Ports and Airports and Dnit will begin from the sixth of October on two fronts: the first from the sixth, and I hope, alongside the minister Silvio Costa, the governor and anyone who wishes, can start these works in order to remove the critical points”, announced minister Renan Filho.

The drought in Amazonas already affects more than 11 thousand people. According to the latest projection from the Civil Defense of Amazonas, from this Tuesday afternoon (26), 111,058 people and 27,765 families are impacted.

Compared to Monday (25), the balance had an increase of 30,362 people and 7,591 families from the cities of Amaturá, Santo Antônio do Iça and Coari, which now make up the ten cities considered, along with Benjamin Constant, São Paulo de Olivença , Envira, Itamarati, Tefé, Jutaí and Uarini – all in an emergency situation.

Five municipalities in emergency have not yet sent the data to Defense.

According to the latest information, in addition to the 15 cities in emergency due to the drought, 40 are on alert, five on alert and two within normal limits.