Temer: No one should be called patron of São Francisco transposition project

In a statement made today (Mar. 10), President Michel Temer said no one should be deemed the patron of the São Francisco river transposition project, as the enterprise was financed by the Brazilian people through taxes. The president spoke during a visit Paraíba, a state in Brazil's Northeast.

Shortly before the president's speech, Campina Grande Mayor Romero Rodrigues said the project was only made possible thanks to the work of a number of ministers and former presidents ever since its conception. As examples, he named  President Temer, as well as erstwhile Presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Dilma Rousseff.

In Temer's view, all credit for the enterprise can only be attributed to Brazilian taxpayers. “I don't want be seen as the patron of this project. No one should. It is due to the Brazilian people, the people of the Northeast, because they're the ones who paid taxes and made the works possible,” the president said during a visit to the Aluízio Campos Multimodal Complex, in Campina Grande.

In the complex, a number of commercial, industrial, scientific, and technological enterprises will be based, in addition to businesses in the logistics sector. Located near highway, air, and port terminals, not to mention railways, a gas line, and the highways BR-104 and BR-230, the complex will make it easier to transport whatever goods are produced in the region.

During the event, Temer signed the order for BR-230's capacity overhaul of highway BR-230 connecting Cabedelo to Oitizeiro. The works on the highway are set to encompass 28 kilometers and include the creation of a third lane for some stretches and the construction of viaducts and pedestrian overpasses.

After Campina Grande, the president is expected to visit the municipalities of Sertânia and Monteiro, on the border between the states of Pernambuco and Paraíba, in order to see the arrival of the waters as part of the transposition. In Sertânia, Temer is to open the floodgate for one of the sections in the project.

Aboard a helicopter, the president will fly to the municipality of Monteiro, on the Paraíba side, to watch the waters of the river being carried over. In Monteiro, he is to take part in a ceremony to celebrate the arrival of the waters, also attended by local authorities.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira

Edited by Amanda Cieglinski/José Romildo