Rousseff: difficult moments should be seen as opportunities to build future
The president inaugurated another project in the transposition of the São Francisco river—the third section of the Sertão Alagoano canal, which should take water to several municipalities in the state.
President Dilma Rousseff said that moments of difficulty should be seen as opportunities for building the future and not a time for feeling downcast and losing hope. Brazil is facing a number of difficulties, she said, but the works aiming to fight the drought must not be halted.
The statement was made in Alagoas state, where the president inaugurated another project in the transposition of the São Francisco river—the third section of the Sertão Alagoano canal, which should take water to several municipalities in the state.
“In Brazil, we're currently facing a challenge. There's one thing we should by no means interrupt, namely all the works associated with the drought issue, because we're aware that, for the first time in Brazil, through President Lula's and my istration, we're tackling the drought problem by implementing projects that will solve it.”
The president said that the Northeast is enduring the most severe period of drought of the last hundred years, and that the problem is being addressed tenaciously. She stated that structural works are underway in an attempt to ensure the supply of water to the millions of residents in the region, the country's most impoverished area.
According to the president, a leader should be judged according to whether he or she provide the people with opportunities, and these opportunities should come in equal to both the rich and the poor. “The Sertão Alagoano canal will attempt—and be successful at—offering equal opportunities to those born here and those born where the river runs. That's what we're building here today, bringing back balance to Brazil's geography,” she explained.
The Sertão Alagoano canal will take water from the São Francisco river to 42 municipalities in Alagoas, benefiting approximately 1 million people. The section inaugurated by the president is 28.2km long and expected to serve 60 thousand people. According to the Ministry of National Integration, investments totaled $224.5 million.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Rousseff: difficult moments should be seen as opportunities to build future
