Since Thursday (1), residents of the town of Pesqueira, in Pernambuco state, have been without access to drinking water. Water trucks hired by Brazil’s Army were supplying water for the population. People living in Pesqueira's rural areas have two options after the water cutoff: to purchase 35 reais (about 6,7 US dollars) for gallons of water or to resort to barreiros, small lakes formed by damming fresh water – they are aimed at animals.
Operation Water Truck ended up without a budget due to a decision taken in November by the federal government. The Army informed that 1.6 million people in eight northeastern states are facing problems accessing water.
“We never had to deal with drought. Never ever. We can’t drink water from barreiros and sewers. We are human beings,” said farmer Vilma Lúcia Tavares da Silva, a Salobro resident.
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According to the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM, in Portuguese), many northeastern towns denounced the interruptions, which started on November 14. The entity called the Ministry of Regional Development (MDR, in Portuguese) and the National Secretariat for Protection and Civil Defense, requesting urgent measures to restrain the water shortage.
Part of the population uses water taken from barreiros, small lakes formed due to the damming of fresh water – they are aimed at animals / Reproduction
In a statement, MDR said that Operation Water Truck “has already been resumed”. A credit of 21.4 million reais was released. According to the Ministry, the operation had been suspended due to a lack of budget.
In some localities of Alagoas and Paraíba states, the program was suspended due to the end of emergency decrees related to the drought condition.
“The operation, carried out by the Brazilian Army, is a rescue action and not a continuous social program. To release resources to provide the population with water trucks, it is essential that the federal government declares a drought or dry spell through the Integrated Disaster Information System – S2ID”, the statement added.
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In Pesqueira, the operation had to be resumed on Monday (5). However, it would have only 40% of the necessary budget to support the town’s rural area. The reduced service is guaranteed until December 16.
In Pesqueira, 18,000 people depend on the operation to have access to drinking water. According to the town’s development department, 30 vehicles supply the rural area with water.
There is a detail that makes the situation even more difficult in Salobro: there is no artesian well with fresh water. That is, precisely, the origin of the locality’s name: salobro means “brackish”.
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“The priority here is water. Water means life, right? Water is what we need here,” said community leader Cláudio Rodrigues.
“We can’t work much here. How is it that this community, where residents get just the necessary food to keep alive, will buy water gallons? There is no way for a family to afford it. We rely on water trucks. We have no money to afford water,” said farmer Gilca Muniz Cintra.
Edited by: Nicolau Soares e Flávia Chacon
