With at least six people arrested so far on suspicion of involvement in the forest fires of recent days in the state of São Paulo, the minister and the São Paulo Secretary of Agriculture speak of “criminal actions”. The statements were made this Tuesday (27) during an event of the National Association for the Diffusion of Fertilizers (Anda).
“This situation is terrible. We hope that the investigations will find all the perpetrators of these crimes and that they will be punished severely,” said the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro.
“I am certain that the resilience of men and women who work the land, who have the vocation, who have in their essence the perseverance to start over, will do so with great determination,” added the minister. According to him, the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is willing to “work together” with the São Paulo government to enable the “restart” for the affected farmers.
The Secretary of Agriculture and Supply of São Paulo, Guilherme Piai, also referred to the fires as “criminal fires” and highlighted the response actions taken by the state Executive.
“The governor [Tarcísio de Freitas]quickly created the crisis cabinet, structured the entire government of São Paulo so that we can provide full support to the state. We are acting very clearly and we will not leave behind any woman or man in the countryside of this state.”
Piai added that the São Paulo government will release zero-interest credit with a two-year grace period to small producers, through the São Paulo Agribusiness Expansion Fund (Feap). “We will get a new one for those whose homes were burned down through CDHU.” [Companhia de Desenvolvimento Habitacional e Urbano do Estado de São Paulo]he added.
Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) had also previously referred to the fires as criminal acts. However, on Monday (26), he stated that he did not believe that the occurrences were a “coordinated action”.
This content was originally published in Fires in SP: Minister and Secretary of Agriculture speak of criminal action on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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