The Brazilian government announced it will invest 4.5bn reais (US$2.4bn) in 109 basic sanitation initiatives nationwide as part of the country’s growth acceleration plan PAC. Of the total, 3bn reais will be allocated to sewerage projects while 1.5bn reais will be used to fund potable water initiatives, cities minister Marcio Fortes said. The 109 projects will be carried out in 90 municipalities, including cities with populations over 50,000, according to the release.
Among the criteria used to select priority municipalities was the incidence of infant mortality, according to Fortes. “Above all, babies affected by a lack of sanitation caused by bad quality water or the lack of sewage treatment,” he said.
Most of the funding, 3.7bn reais, will come from the country’s federal unemployment insurance fund (FGTS) and the workers support fund (FAT). The remaining 800mn reais will be provided by state and city governments, as well as water and sewerage utilities.
This announcement brings PAC-funded sanitation projects up to 33.7bn reais. Contracts have been signed for a total of 23.8bn reais and 75% of these are underway. Of the 109 selected projects, 70 were presented by 12 state water utilities.
Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 03 Sep 2009
