Société
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Brazil will invest 30 billion reals (15.1 billion U.S. dollars) in expanding the water supply network in the drought-afflicted northeastern region, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced Monday.
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According to her weekly radio show, more than 24 billion reals (12.1 billion dollars) will be spent on infrastructure projects such as dams, channels, water pipes, water treatment plants and supply networks.
Some 5 billion reals (2.5 billion dollars) will be placed in the government's Agua para Todos (Water for All) program, which aims to install cisterns in small communities.
The program has already installed 260,000 cisterns in small towns throughout the parched northeast, and another 240,000 cisterns are to be installed this year, said Rousseff.
In addition to the long-term infrastructure projects, her government also planned to alleviate communities affected by the drought with emergency measures, including dispatching water trucks to 750 towns struggling through the current dry season.
Rousseff also promoted infrastructure spending as a means to boost the country's sluggish economy.
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