President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva presented, this Friday (26), the result of the New Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) Selections, highlighting mobility and urban drainage works, the latter aimed at preventing natural disasters. Today’s announcement included programs in the areas of sustainable and resilient cities, social and inclusive infrastructure and the Water for All program, with R$41.7 billion in investments.
In his speech, Lula reaffirmed that the priority in choosing projects for the PAC Seleções, which is aimed at supporting projects submitted by states and municipalities, is for critical areas with gaps in assistance, for the benefit of the population, regardless of the political sympathies and affiliations of the leaders. “Why should the people be victims of this petty politics of a ruler’s behavior?” he asked.
“The citizen of the city of the PT mayor [partido de Lula]he is just like the citizen of the city of the guy who is not from the PT. So, we have to treat the interests of each citizen. If when I leave the presidency of the Republic, I have left as a legacy the understanding that it is possible, in a civilized and democratic way, to have an adverse coexistence, it would be wonderful for this country, it would be extraordinary if I could make things compromised by everyone”, he added.
Lula thanked the governors who were able to attend the event and said that when he travels to the states to announce federal government actions, he makes a point of inviting local leaders. “I want him to go, to say whatever he has to say to the people there. Some have not attended, possibly due to the negative image of a president of the Republic who only traveled to the state he liked, only traveled to meet friends and did not care about those who thought differently from him,” he said.
“It is important that we bring Brazil back to civility. Civility means that the federated entities need to build partnerships, that they have to work together, it means that one depends on the other, it means that together we can do much more than separately,” Lula added.
The president also asked project managers to hire local workers to carry out the New PAC projects. One of the main objectives of the program is to generate jobs and income and promote regional development.
In the natural disaster prevention modality – sustainable urban drainage, the selection foresees works aimed at reducing the risk of flooding, inundation and urban and riverside flooding in critical municipalities. In total, 190 municipalities in all states and the Federal District will receive macro-drainage interventions, with R$ 15.3 billion in resources.
For Rio Grande do Sul alone, a state heavily affected by floods in May and June, R$6.5 billion will be earmarked for these projects. All projects of this type submitted by the state and municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul were approved.
List of works
The list of works included in the PAC Selections in each state and municipality it is available on the website of the Civil House of the Presidency, responsible for coordinating the program.
In the sustainable and resilient cities axis, the following modalities are carried out by the Ministry of Cities: urban mobility – large and medium-sized cities; prevention of natural disasters – sustainable urban drainage; and urban sewage disposal. In the Water for All axis, the urban water supply modality is carried out by the Ministry of Cities. In the social and inclusive infrastructure axis, the Community Center for Life (Convive) modality is carried out by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
The selection stage followed criteria previously established in notices.
Urban mobility includes medium and high-capacity transportation projects (subway, train, VLT and BRT) and projects focused on public transportation, in addition to infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians integrated into public transportation projects. The total resources are R$9.9 billion for projects in 58 municipalities in 24 states, including locations in metropolitan regions with more than 3 million inhabitants and municipalities with more than 300 thousand inhabitants.
The selection of urban sewage proposals prioritized municipalities with the greatest sewage deficit and that can achieve universal service in the locality. Investments amount to R$10.1 billion for 287 municipalities in 25 states.
The Water for All axis modality aims to expand access and improve the quality of water supply services in urban areas, with R$5.9 billion in resources for 300 municipalities in 24 states. The Sanitation Legal Framework has the goal of universalizing access to quality drinking water by 2033.
Finally, the program foresees the construction of 30 community centers for Life in 24 states, at a cost of R$460 million. Proposals for intervention in priority municipalities of the National Public Security with Citizenship Program (Pronasci II) were selected, which account for 50% of intentional violent deaths, according to data from the National Public Security Information System (Sinesp).
Convive is a public facility for violence prevention and crime reduction at the municipal level, promoting a culture of peace and social inclusion in vulnerable territories and other areas of social disintegration. It provides educational, cultural, sports, employment and income, social assistance, health, and rights promotion and access activities.
Understand
The New PAC Selections is aimed at meeting priority projects presented by states and municipalities. This year, Lula announced R$ 23 billion for health, education, sport and culture and R$ 18.3 billion for modalities carried out by the Ministry of Cities, such as slope containment, water supply, land regularization, urbanization of slums and fleet renewal.
The program was launched in September 2023, when investments of R$ 65.2 billion for selections of works and projects, with the participation of states and municipalities. The total amount allocated is R$ 136 billion and the second stage of the Selections is scheduled for 2025, so that the mayors who are elected this year can also present their priority projects.
The New PAC Selections comprises five axes and 27 modalities, executed by the Ministries of Cities, Health, Education, Culture, Justice and Sports, under the coordination of the Civil House. The resource is included in the total investment of the New PAC, which is R$ 1.7 trillion.
