Without resources from the state and federal governments, Cacoal City Hall will pay R$ 2 thousand to flood victims

Iury Lima – Cenarium Magazine

VILHENA (RO) – Without financial help from the Government of Rondônia and the Federal Government, the City Hall of Cacoal, a municipality 480 kilometers away from Porto Velho, intends to pay an emergency aid of R$ 2 thousand to the three hundred families that lost everything with the advance of the waters of Machado river and other four affluents that pass through the region, as a result of the heavy rains that hit the city since last week.

The initiative comes from Mayor Adailton Fúria (PSD), who forwarded the project to the City Council and presented it to the legislature on February 21, during the first regular session of the year. According to the mayor, councilman João Paulo Pichek (Republicans), the request will be voted on this Friday, 25, at 9am, during an extraordinary session that has already been called.

To CENARIUM MAGAZINE, the city said that the expenditure will be R$ 600 thousand, and these funds will be paid by the Executive itself through the Municipal Department of Social Assistance and Labor (Semast), since there was no support from the State or the President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro, even with the Decree of Emergency situation that remains in force in the city. If approved, the amount will be paid in a single installment, benefiting about 3,600 people.

“It is certainly a project of extreme importance because of the fatality that occurred in Cacoal. Surely, these two thousand reais can, yes, help these people affected, enabling the purchase of mattresses, food, stoves, refrigerators and other items needed in this sense, “said the report, John Paul Pichek.

The councilman and president of the Legislature also says that there is no difficulty in approving the aid, since “in the meeting of committees, all councilmen agreed to put the project to a vote.

Criteria

The aid will be paid by direct transfer to the beneficiaries, by means of a card. Families who can prove monthly income of up to three minimum wages and who live in houses severely affected by the floods, according to Semast’s report, will be entitled to it.

Release of FGTS and mapping of families

Another way to help the 1,232 families that were victims of the flood was to request the release of the amounts to be withdrawn from the Severance Premium Reserve Fund (FGTS). To this end, Mayor Fúria met with secretaries and representatives of the Caixa Econômica Federal.

“The request takes into account the declaration of Emergency Situation in the city, which allows the Caixa, by signing an ordinance from the Ministry of Regional Development, to release part of the FGTS resources to workers affected by floods and other calamities that put them in conditions of social vulnerability, which is the case of several families from Cacoal that lost everything”, said the Executive through a note.

Those who have an account balance and who have lived for at least 120 days in the flooded areas will be able to withdraw their money.

Social Assistance is also mapping all the families that still need support. Agents are visiting and cataloging the necessary items, such as furniture, clothes, and appliances, and then making the donations, according to what has already been collected through voluntary help from society, as well as food baskets and hygiene products.

There are still risks

According to the Municipal Civil Defense, the waters that took over the streets have already started to recede. Also according to the folder, the Machado River, the main river in the city, recorded this Friday, 25, the mark of 8.20 meters, i.e., “within its normal range”.

The families, who were sheltered in three support points, besides hotels paid by the city hall, are already returning home. Even so, the Civil Defense says that there is still no reason to lower our guard regarding the possibility of new floods.

“The biggest flooding events that we have registered, here in the municipality of Cacoal, occurred in 2014 and, now, this one in the year 2022. We are closing the numbers, but we can affirm that this was the biggest flooding event. This year is an atypical year, because we have the La Nina event, which contributes to heavy rains in all regions, especially here in the Amazon region”, explained the Municipal Civil Defense coordinator, Lucas Borghi, to CENARIUM.

“The city, fortunately, is recovering at an extraordinary speed thanks to various voluntary work, help, donations, and also to the city government’s staff, who have been working around the clock to support families in need of assistance and social welfare, as well as restoring the city’s buildings and infrastructure”, Borghi added.

9 cities in the state are flooded

Besides Cacoal, the towns of Ji-Paraná, Rolim de Moura, Pimenta Bueno, Ariquemes, Governador Jorge Teixeira, Machadinho do Oeste, Alto Paraíso, and Campo Novo de Rondônia are suffering with the advance of the rivers. In these locations, more than 1,000 people have already been affected and part of the population can only get around by boat.

In Rolim de Moura, for example, the flooding has compromised the treatment and supply of water to the population by 30%. In Campo Novo de Rondônia, a bridge over the Braço Esquerdo river collapsed, making it impossible to transport agricultural produce over the BR-421 highway, which is also being swamped.

In Ariquemes, the concern is on account of the Jamari River, which by reaching 11 meters, is already above the alert quota.

In these cities, the guidance is for residents to avoid risk areas and, in case of emergency, to call the Civil Defense through the phone 199 and the Fire Department through 193.