The Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Eloy Terena, announced on Thursday (9th) that the R$ 53 million allocated for the construction of a water supply system for the largest urban indigenous reserve in the country, located in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, is now available.
Comprising the Bororó and Jaguapiru villages, the reserve is home to about 20,000 indigenous people from the Guarani Nhandeva, Guarani Kaiowá, and Terena groups, who have been facing water scarcity for over five years.
The situation worsened with a recent chikungunya outbreak in the municipality, which primarily affected the indigenous populations.
According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health on Saturday (4th), the municipality had already recorded 3,596 notifications, with 1,314 confirmed cases, 914 of which were among indigenous people.
“We have been monitoring this critical situation in the Dourados indigenous reserve, and as my first act [upon assuming the ministry], we signed this service order precisely to start the works,” the minister stated.
Eloy Terena mentioned that the leaders of these communities are requesting the creation of a representative governance body to oversee the weekly allocation of resources to local and federal governments for the execution of works and actions in the indigenous reserve.
“This is a commitment I made with the indigenous leaders, not only regarding these well resources but also concerning other resources we announced to tackle the chikungunya epidemic,” he said.
According to the minister, the last document required to begin the works enabling two major wells with a distribution system for the Bororó and Jaguapiru villages was signed on Friday (3rd), and the funds have already been made available to the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, which will execute the project through the state sanitation company, Sanesul.
According to a statement released by the company, the project is currently undergoing approval by Caixa Econômica Federal, the institution responsible for disbursing the funds.
“Meanwhile, the registration with Agesul [State Agency for Enterprise Management] for the well drilling phase has been completed, with contracting and commencement of activities expected within this semester,” the statement highlighted.
Sanesul also informed that the tenders for the next stages of contracting for the execution of the work will be published shortly after the release of funds by Caixa and the commencement of the project. The completion is expected in two years.
According to Minister Eloy Terena, the communities are currently being provisionally supplied by small wells installed on an emergency basis, through a partnership with the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD).
There are 15 wells equipped with water tanks, pumps, and solar panels to meet the demand until the definitive supply system is completed.
“Now comes what we call the major wells, which are the ones that will truly solve the structural problem. That is why we allocated R$ 53 million to construct these structural wells and connect the distribution network,” he said.
Source: Agência Brasil.
Original published at O Cafezinho.