The federal government will guarantee all the financial resources necessary to combat the fires and drought that is affecting almost all states, said the Minister of Integration and Regional Development, Waldez Góes, this Thursday (19).
In an interview with Good morning, Minister.produced by Brazilian Communications Company (EBC)Goés said that the government is free to support states, the Federal District and municipalities because expenses to combat the effects of the climate and environmental emergency were excluded from the current spending cap.
“These resources are initially for the Amazon and the Pantanal. There will be another MP [medida provisória] for other regions, and it was not the first and will not be the last. Regarding the need for Amazonas and the Amazon for financial budgetary resources to respond to the drought problem and serve the people, President Lula is guaranteeing it”, he highlighted.
This week, the government announced R$514 million in extraordinary credit to combat forest fires and the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Flávio Dino, authorized the Union to issue credits outside the fiscal limits established by the spending cap.
Minister Valdez Góes recalled that states and municipalities must approve action plans in order to have access to resources.
“There was no shortage of resources for Rio Grande do Sul and there will be no shortage for the Amazon, the Pantanal and the Cerrado. I have already approved several plans for Mato Grosso do Sul, and we are now approving plans for Goiás and Mato Grosso, as we have done for the other regions,” he added.
Governors
Góes recalled that this is the worst drought the country has experienced in the last 75 years and that climate change is making the situation worse.
On Thursday afternoon, the minister will meet with other ministers and the governors of the Central-West and Legal Amazon to discuss the situation in these regions.
“This meeting is very important because it will better organize the synergy between the federal government and the state governments, and also the dialogue that President Lula has been having with the Brazilian Congress, which, logically, approves measures so that the response of the state governments and the Brazilian government is more agile. Certainly, at the end of the meeting, we will leave with several steps forward.”
