The Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, argued this Tuesday (17) that the paving work on the 918 kilometers (km) of BR-319, between Manaus and Porto Velho, needs to undergo a study based on scientific data and evidence. “If this had already been done, we would have technical support to be able to have a definitive answer”, she reinforced.
A week ago, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a service order authorizing the paving of 20 km of the highway, with plans to tender another 32 km of a section that has had an environmental license since 2007. According to the federal government, R$157.5 million will be invested in the project.
The section that will be paved is part of the areas that remain functional on BR-319 and is not part of the approximately 400 km in the middle of the road’s extension, which environmentalists warn that it could cause serious damage to the ecosystem.
Minister Marina Silva stated that the project will only be defined after a technical evaluation. “The shortcuts that have been taken over the years have led to nothing. The Bolsonaro government, in 4 years, did not build the road and, at the last minute, at the end, it issued a license that did not take into account the position of the technicians.”
The preliminary license that authorized, in 2021, the paving of the stretch between kilometers 250 and 656 was revoked by a preliminary decision of the 7th Federal Court, in July of this year, and the following month the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF1) confirmed the decision by denying a request from the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) for the suspension of the preliminary injunction.
“The shortcuts taken over the last 16 years have led nowhere, which is why I insist that it is essential to carry out a study, a strategic environmental assessment, so that land grabbing and deforestation do not worsen in that area, which is in the heart of the Amazon,” reinforced Marina.
The statements were given to the program Good morning, Minister.of the Gov Channelwhen Marina Silva discussed the measures implemented by the federal government to combat forest fires.
According to the minister, paving the BR-319 without a proper study could be harmful to the region. “It could worsen the problem of drought and dry weather in a frightening way and, without a doubt, even increase the number of fires we are experiencing today.”
