Brazil’s new environment minister Carlos Minc proposes a 10-year plan to alleviate the lack of basic sanitation in the country, and to raise the proportion of the population with access to sewage service from the current 35% to 75% . He will present this to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Brazil’s federal government’s growth acceleration plan PAC will invest 38.3 billion reais (US$ 23.5 billion = EUR 15.1 biilion) in basic sanitation by 2010. However, Márcio Galvão Fonseca, director of the water and sewerage department of the cities ministry, says the sector needs a 200 billion reais (US$ 123 billion = EUR 78.9 billion) investment.

Furthermore, the Brazilian Health Foundation (Funasa) president Danilo Fortes announced that Funasa would double investments in sanitation over the coming years. The focus will be on raising sewage services from 38% to 65% in isolated populations, such as indigenous people, rural communities and small towns which have the highest national rates of infant mortality. In addition, Funasa aims to provide at least a third of indigenous villages with sanitation, up from the current 20%.

Web sites:

• Wikipedia – information on Carlos Minc
• Department of water and sewerage, Cities Ministry, Brazil
• Funasa

Related news: Brazil: over EUR 4 billion/year needed for basic water and sanitation, survey claims, Source Weekly, 25 Apr 2008

Sources: BNamericas [subscription site], 19 May 2008 ; BNamericas, 20 May 2008