President Lula delivers 684 ‘Minha Casa, Minha Vida’ houses in Bahia
Minha Casa, Minha Vida, the largest housing program in Brazil in recent decades, is officially back. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the Provisional Measure marking the resumption of the federal government’s initiative.
The president personally handed over the keys to the units to families in Santo Amaro, Bahia.
“I came here to start proving that it is possible for us to rebuild another country. To tell you that the Brazilian people will go back to having breakfast, lunch, dinner, living, studying, working, having access to the things that everyone has the right to have,” said President Lula, who delivered 684 units in two housing developments.
“These works were 94% complete in 2016. They were stopped and only now, when President Lula returned, have they been completed”, said the president of Caixa Econômica Federal, Maria Rita Serrano.
“Between 2009 and the end of 2018, there were 5.6 million units delivered. Almost 6 million units were contracted by the end of 2018. Twenty-three million people were benefited, including those of the five projects today”, added the president of Caixa. By way of comparison, 23 million people are more than twice the population of Portugal.
Similar ceremonies for the delivery of housing units were held simultaneously (online) in Lauro de Freitas (BA), João Pessoa (PB), Contagem (MG) and Aparecida de Goiânia (GO). In total, 2,745 housing units were delivered.
Lula announced that Minha Casa, Minha Vida will immediately resume work on 5,562 housing units in five municipalities. There will be 609 units in Rio Largo (AL), 868 in Chapadinha (MA), 2,837 in Imperatriz (MA), 1,008 in Belém (PA) and 240 in Governador Valadares (MG). In the coming months, construction work on 186,700 homes across the country will be continued or resumed.
In addition to being a fundamental instrument for reducing the housing deficit in Brazil, especially for low-income families, Minha Casa, Minha Vida contributes to the recovery of the economy, generating jobs and moving the entire chain of the civil construction sector.
“We will, in the next four years, with the resumption of the program, generate one million new direct and indirect jobs. There will be two million new homes throughout Brazil by 2026. Minha Casa, Minha Vida has this effect, moving the economy and generating opportunities”, said Minister of Cities, Jader Filho.
The Minha Casa, Minha Vida is back with some changes. The program will now include families with a with gross income of up to R$2,640. Previously, the income required was R$1,800.
By Kawsachun News with information from Planalto presidential press
