11/25/2023 – 17:12
Representatives from the first level of the federal government returned this Saturday (25) to Santa Catarina, where they are visiting locations affected by the heavy rains of the last two months. According to the state government, since the beginning of October, 180 cities in Santa Catarina have declared a situation of emergency or public calamity due to the consequences of weather phenomena.
Coordinated by the Minister of Integration and Regional Development, Waldez Góes, the federal delegation is also attended by the National Secretary of Protection and Civil Defense, Wolnei Wolff.
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Shortly before the delegation arrived in Navegantes, on the north coast of Santa Catarina, the minister released a video on social media in which he stated that the trip to the state was “recommended” by the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and aims to reinforce the actions of humanitarian aid and infrastructure reconstruction that the federal and state governments have been implementing jointly.
In addition to Navegantes, the federal delegation was also in Trombudo Central, in the Alto Vale do Itajaí, one of the regions most punished by the consequences of recent climate phenomena. At the second stop, federal representatives met with governor Jorginho Mello, who stated that this is one of “the worst floods that Santa Catarina has ever experienced”.
“In this first moment, our focus is to guarantee the essentials: water, food, mattresses and hygiene and cleaning materials. Then, we will deal with the reconstruction”, wrote Mello on his page on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
This is the second time since the beginning of October that Góes has visited Santa Catarina in the company of members of the federal government. On October 11, Góes and members of the federal task force visited some of the cities hit by heavy rains at the beginning of last month. On that occasion, Góes announced the transfer of more than R$1.2 million to the Santa Catarina government, among other measures.
Last Tuesday (21), Góes met, in Brasília, with deputies and senators who are part of the Santa Catarina Parliamentary Forum and who, in addition to guidance, asked for haste from the federal government in recognizing emergency situations and releasing federal resources for prevention and assistance actions for the population affected by the consequences of climate phenomena. At the beginning of this week, the Santa Catarina government counted 5,858 homeless people, that is, people who, with nowhere else to go, had to seek public shelter or an assistance institution.
“It is necessary to make it clear that speed also depends a lot on the municipalities [prefeituras]as there is no way for us to release resources or declare an emergency situation or state of public calamity without each city hall or state government following all the necessary procedures”, added the minister.
He recalled that, at the end of October, the federal government published the Provisional Measure (MP) 1,191/2023, opening extraordinary credit of R$259 million for the ministry to transfer resources to municipalities across the country to invest in protection and civil defense projects and urgent and unpredictable expenses, such as those resulting from public calamities. Although it is already in force, the measure needs to be analyzed by the National Congress, which has 60 days to reject or approve the proposal and continue spending.
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