In a public hearing at the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development, in this Chamber of Deputies, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, warned on Wednesday (16) of the importance of the private sector working together with the federal government. , state and municipal governments in fire prevention.
According to the minister, farms also need to maintain their own prevention structures and brigades to operate in these areas.
“If you have a pharmacy, you have gauges and hydrants there to put out fires. Likewise, we need to equip ourselves when the Fire Department cannot be present,” he said, regarding the use of public resources in fires that occurred on private property in the state of São Paulo.
Marina highlighted that firefighters and Brazilian Air Force aircraft were sent to the state of São Paulo, with its high water transportation and firefighting capabilities, but if preventive measures were also taken, the equipment would be better directed to federal public areas. which is actually the responsibility of the Association.
“São Paulo is, by far, the richest state, the state with the largest infrastructure capacity: there are more than 8 thousand people in the Fire Department, and it reaches almost 9 thousand people. The private sector has trained firefighters to look after their properties,” he stressed.
On the other hand, according to the Minister of Finance, there are states and regions whose public authorities do not yet have the capacity to handle forest fires. In this case, the federal government intervened beyond its responsibilities.
“In the case of the Pantanal, this is important. “The contingent is the largest, the equipment is also the largest,” he said.
According to Marina, almost 900 people work in the Pantanal. In the Amazon, although 60% of the territory is federal public territory, the federal government operates in more than 70% of the territory, fighting forest fires.
“The federal government has worked, not only in partnership with the states, but also with the private sector, including assisting the private sector. Because unlike São Paulo, Rio and Minas, which are states with better economic conditions, the majority of countries do not have that structure,” he said.
Financing
The Minister reminded that more than R$400 million was allocated from the Amazon Fund to equip Fire Departments in the state, but this amount was not enough. “The private sector also needs to have a structured program to fight fires.”
Marina suggested that Banco da Amazônia could have a credit financing line with a lower interest rate so that the company is “well equipped” to deal with this.
Crime
On the other hand, the Minister of Finance stated that all preventive and eradication efforts will not be enough if human-caused fires are not extinguished, whether due to negligence, without intention, or on purpose, “if there is an intentional setting to burn. burn”.
“In the case of São Paulo, the fire occurred at 10:45 am. By one afternoon, 17 cities were on fire. “Fires broke out in more than 300 cities and more than 26 people were arrested for committing crimes,” he said.
In São Félix do Xingú, in Pará, a local newspaper published a statement from residents dissatisfied with the vacancy of the conservation unit. Because of this, they threatened to burn the place down.
Budget cuts
The minister also underlined that, even with the anticipated actions taken by the federal government, and with the recovery of the department’s budget by 37% – after cuts of R$ 18.4 million – it is still necessary to continue to increase public action and resources, which can increase saved by joint prevention.
“Of course we need to increase resources, but what we really need is for people not to burn. Otherwise, we will just take public money and use it for something that can be done preventatively, existing resources will never be enough.”
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