Data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) indicate that 34.2% of Brazil’s municipalities do not have public supplies of drinking water, and only 30% of the country’s population is financially capable of participating in the private real estate market.

To deal with this situation, the federal government’s goal in 2005 is to apply 60% of the funds allocated to housing in the form of subsidies to families that earn up to 5 minimum wages (US$ 495). They account for 92% of the country’s housing deficit, which amounts to 7.2 million residences.

According to the executive secretary of the Ministry of Cities, Ermí­nia Maricato, the federal government is attempting to assist more low-income families.

She is taking part in the 3rd International Symposium on Urban Research, which runs through tomorrow, in Brasí­lia. The Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) and the World Bank are sponsoring the event.

According to Maricato, the number of vacant housing units in Brazil exceeds six million, according to data from the IBGE.

They number 500 thousand in the city of São Paulo alone. In her opinion, vacant housing units in big metropolises could help reduce the country’s housing deficit.

“The number of vacant residences in the metropolises is painfully evident. Brazil’s four biggest metropolises possess more than 10% of the vacant units, which are mostly concentrated in the old urban centers.

“They are in completely urbanized neighborhoods, which offer a very high quality of life from the standpoint of infrastructure, equipment, and services, but contain many units that remain deteriorated and shut,” she said.

Translation: David Silberstein

Agência Brasil

Brazil’s Ministry of Cities will implant the Habitar Brasil (Inhabit Brazil) program for the urbanization of favelas (shantytowns)  in over 30 locations throughout the country, including Rio and São Paulo.

The contracts have already been signed, and infrastructure projects in areas such as water and sanitation, together with home improvement, are expected to get underway in the second half of the year, benefiting 24 thousand families.

The plan is to spend US$ 118.2 million (313.5 million reais). Through this effort the program will expand to reach 400 thousand people who live in 119 shantytowns in 25 Brazilian states.

Since 2003, resources from the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) have financed investments of US$ 222 million (R$ 589 million) in the program.

According to the director of the Department of Urbanization and Precarious Settlements in the National Secretariat of Housing, Inês Magalhães, besides bettering the infrastructure, the project intends to encourage social mobilization.

She affirmed that through the program it is hoped that families will achieve emancipation, through the generation of jobs and income, community organization, and environmental sanitary education.

Urban Growth

82% of the Brazilian population currently lives in cities. Urbanization has picked up in the country over the last 50 years – up to the middle of the past century, the majority of the population resided in rural areas.

The urbanization process in Brazil was rapid and chaotic, and, nowadays, a third of the country’s population is concentrated in only nine metropolitan regions, while only 20% of the population occupies the great majority (72%) of the country’s more than 5 thousand municipalities.

This uncontrolled urban growth has caused problems, such as the lack of housing, transportation, and sanitation. To face the problem the federal government created, October 2003, the National Council of Cities, with representatives of society and municipal and state governments. The goal is to give these segments greater participation in the formulation and implantation of government policies.

The council is be made up, principally, of representatives of all social segments present in the cities, such as popular movements and representative entities of workers, businessmen, and public and private concessionaries, according to the Ministry of Cities.

Housing

The shortage of housing in the Brazil amounts, currently, to 6 million dwellings. In just 10 years, between 1980 and 1990, the number of people living in shantytowns all over Brazil more than doubled, from 2.2 million to 5 million. Currently, 98% of the cities with over 500 thousand inhabitants have shantytowns.

Areas of risk – trashfills, watersheds, hillsides (which can topple), and riversides (which can flood) – end up providing alternatives to the lack of housing.

Over the past 15 years, over 1.3 thousand people have died in 45 Brazilian cities alone as a result of landslides during rainy periods, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Another consequence of the housing shortage is the illegal occupation of public and private land. Most land developments are occupied by low-income residents, but, in recent years, irregular condominiums for the wealthy reveal the other facet of the absence of control over public land.

Sanitation

Approximately 60 million Brazilians do not have access to sewage removal services. Around 15 million people also lack treated, piped water, and another 16 million do not have garbage collection.

The treatment of wastes is precarious, doing damage to the environment and to the health of the population. According to data from the Ministry of Cities, nearly 75% of sewage in Brazil is released into rivers and on beaches without any treatment.

The treatment of garbage also represents a challenge to urban planners. Around 64% of the municipalities deposit garbage in open-air dumps, and many municipalities have no urban sanitation service at all.

Transportation

The lack of efficient public transportation has led to an increase in the number of private vehicles and irregular means of transportation, especially in the big cities. As a result, urban centers are facing growing problems of traffic congestion. Besides increasing the time spent on travel, this adds to pollution.

The great concentration of vehicles and the lack of investment in infrastructure, road maintenance, supervision, and educational campaigns are the chief causes of traffic accidents.

According to a survey done by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea), over 20 thousand people were killed in traffic accidents in 2001. Of Brazil’s more than five thousand municipalities, fewer than 10% have departments to supervise traffic.

Agência Brasil

Between January and December 2004, Brazil’s Federal Government expropriated enough area to settle approximately 25,000 landless families.  The goal had been 115,000 families, with 75,000 of those to be settled on land expropriated specifically for agrarian reform.

The Minister of Agrarian Development admits that this year, just as in 2003, the goal will not be met.  As of December 20th, 68,300 families have been settled.

The government expropriated 389 properties in 2004, resulting in a total of 875,700 hectares, according to Presidential Decrees published in the “official” state newspaper. 

According to INCRA (National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform) statistics, each family settled received a 35 hectare lot, on average.

The expropriation of an area takes, on average, between 5 months and a year, depending on the duration of each of the phases; for example, opening a case, dividing the area into lots, and selecting the families.

The process can be further delayed in the event that the landowner contests the expropriation.  The land is paid for through Agrarian Reform Bonds (Tí­tulos da Dí­vida Agrária), and the owner paid in cash.

It is likely, however, that an area expropriated in August or September will not become a settlement until the following year – which is called the “stock” of the land.

Between August 1st and December 31st, 2004, the government expropriated 450,000 hectares (51% of the total), versus 143,800 during the same period in 2003.

In 2004, 49% of the area expropriated was in the Legal Amazon (the northern states, in addition to Maranhão and Mato Grosso), a practice condemned by the Workers’ Party (PT) because of the lack of basic infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage) in those areas. 

The demand for land has been minimal in those nine states; of the 316 land invasions between January and November, 2004, 17 (5%) occurred in the region.

Access to Land

In addition to the expropriations, the government considers as “settled” families living on public land, those settled through state projects and those living on vacant lots from previous settlements. 

According to the Minister, families settled through market-based land reform are also counted in the 75,000 total.

Expropriation, however, is cited as the primary way to obtain land in the National Agrarian Reform Plan (Plano Nacional de Reforma Agraria) of November 2003.  The MST (Landless Workers’ Movement, or MST) holds the same position. 

“The essence of agrarian reform is the government’s capacity to democratize access to land. And, there is a single way to democratize access: through expropriation,” affirmed João Pedro Stedile, of the National Coordination of the MST. 

“If the government does not prioritize this tool, we will end up with the same results as the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration, where the government carried out isolated expropriations, without an overarching policy of agrarian reform,” Stedile concluded. 

What President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration needs to do at this point is “salvage the framework proposed in the National Agrarian Reform Plan,” including determining regional priorities, like the sugar cane region in the Northeast and the cattle-raising region of the Center-West.

With regard to the total land expropriated in 2004, Stedile commented, “The statistic proves what we have been warning the government about for a long time.  Agrarian reform happens at a turtle’s pace, both in terms of quantity and quality of land. 

“The government is still indebted to us based on the terms of the agreement signed in 2003, that promised to settle 400,000 new families by 2006, prioritizing those who currently suffer in makeshift housing, using canvas tarps as shelter.”

To reach the 2004 goal, Lula promised a 1.7 billion reais (US$ 630 million) supplement to Agrarian Development, but only 700 million reais (US$ 260) was appropriated. 

Landless Workers Movement
www.mstbrazil.org

In Brazil there are some 6 million low-income families (who receive up to three minimum wages per month – around US$ 372) who do not have any place to live. That is where 83% of the country’s housing deficit is concentrated.

“Our principal challenge is how to reach these people. We have to find ways to subsidize their housing,” says Jorge Hereda, the Secretary of Housing at the Ministry of Cities.

The government’s goal is to get investments in the sector to conform to the housing deficit profile – in other words, to attack the problem where the problem lives.

Hereda says that over the past few years corrections in the investment profile have occurred so that, while in 2002, around 70% of sector funding went to families with incomes of over five minimum wages (US$ 484), in 2003, 50% went to low-income families.

Hereda also reports that his budget for 2005 will be the biggest in 15 years.

In 2005, the Ministry of Cities will have US$ 4.171 billion (11.2 billion reais) from the Worker Compulsory Savings Fund (FGTS) for housing, sanitation and infrastructure.

That is 33% more than this year (2004) and 60% more than in 2003, he says.

This year we defined our housing policy, explains Hereda. The Cities Council decided that “the priority is low-income families,” he says, “but we are aware of the housing problem in the Brazilian middle class and intend to deal with it as well.”

Agência Brasil
Translator: Allen Bennett

With its biggest budget in 15 years, Brazil’s Housing secretariat at the Ministry of Cities will face the challenge of spending its money well in 2005.

There will be US$ 4.1 billion (11.2 billion reais) available for housing, sanitation and infrastructure, an increase of 33% over the 2004 budget, and almost 60% more than in 2003.

Jorge Hereda, the head of the secretariat, explains that even so there remains a shortfall.

“What we need to eliminate Brazil’s housing deficit is US$ 5.2 billion per year over a 20 year period,” he says, adding that it will be important not to do what happened this year when 7% of the housing budget (around US$ 208 million) went unspent.

That was enough money to build 80,000 homes. Hereda blames operational problems in states and municipalities for that.

The 2005 budget has earmarked US$ 7.8 million for the construction of some 3,000 homes for Indians.

Hereda says that the major obstacle to more spending on housing is the fact that such expenditures affect the primary account, reducing the surplus the government is committed to achieving because of contracts with multilateral financial organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund.

In 2005, it is possible that such spending will no longer affect the primary account if a Brazilian proposal is accepted by the IMF.

Brazil made its proposal for changes in primary account accounting at the World Urban Forum in Spain last September.

“We have to spend money in order to achieve the Millennium Goals. What we need is special treatment for such expenditures,” explains Hereda.

A final decision on the Brazilian proposal to exclude spending on housing (and other infrastructure) from primary account calculations as expenditures should be made in April at a meeting of the UN Commission of Sustainable Development.

One of the Millennium Goals is to improve the well-being of the poor who live in slums. Brazil has around 4,000 slum areas where some 1.7 million people live.

Agência Brasil
Translator: Allen Bennett

Over 30% of Brazil’s population of nearly 180 million lacks access to decent housing and, consequently, lives in subhuman conditions in nine metropolitan areas, in addition to BrasÀ­lia and Manaus, according to data from Brazil’s Ministry of Cities.

This situation is the result of the urbanization process that has occurred in the country during the last 50 years.

Approximately 82% of the Brazilian population is currently concentrated in urban areas, whereas the global average stands around 50%, according to the United Nations (UN).

In his address yesterday at the II World Urban Forum in Barcelona, Spain, the Brazilian Minister of Cities, Olí­vio Dutra, claimed that transcending this model – which, in his view, leads to social exclusion and an increase in poverty and violence – requires a pooling of efforts by federal, municipal, and state governments, together with the participation of civil society.

Dutra’s speech dealt with the theme “Local Authorities’ Forum for Social Inclusion (FAL).”

The next edition of the World Urban Forum will be held on January 24-25, 2005, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, parallel to the World Social Forum.

The FAL was founded in Porto Alegre at the beginning of 2001 by 180 mayors and representatives of cities from Europe, Latin America, and Africa.

According to the Minister, the forum represents an important instrument in the search for alternatives to exclusive globalization, which is “dictated by the market” and “income-concentrating.”

The local administrators who gathered at the first edition of the forum formulated the Porto Alegre Letter, which defines cities as “important instruments to halt the processes of social exclusion and to develop policies and provide responses to the problems that block citizenship.”

Dutra also pointed out that the proposal of the FAL is for leaders to play the role of builders of government policies aimed at development with social inclusion, capable of guaranteeing access to the goods essential for a decent life.

“It is necessary to dream about another globalization, that goes beyond the current economic domain, that is consistent with democratic local, regional, and national decisions, and that ensures the sustainable development of the planet,” he emphasized.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Juliana Andrade
Translator: David Silberstein

The traditional Independence Day march of the “Cry of the Excluded” brought some 6,000 people to the Ipiranga Monument on September 7. Participants included representatives of the homeless, the handicapped, Indians, women and other socially active groups, as well as worker unions.

The coordinator of the event, Benedito Roberto Barbosa, called it a huge success.

“Fantastic. We had a really diverse group here. This occurred at the moment we are trying to do something about this problem with homeless people being killed on the city’s streets,” he said.

Barbosa said the country was going through a good moment with renewed economic growth, but that much more was needed.

“We march for employment, healthcare, education and housing. We want a different Brazil. On the street you can feel that much remains to be done,” he said.

In Aparecide do Norte, a pilgrimage town between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, an estimated 60,000 people participated in the Cry of the Excluded march.

According to the march coordinator, Luiz Gonzaga da Silva, aka Gegê, the turnout shows that people are aware of the need to make demands on the government.

“People understand what we are doing,” he declared. “But we have to make our demands clear and continue to pressure the government. It is not enough to show up only on the Cry of the Excluded day.”

Agência Brasil
Reporter:Flávia Albuquerque
Translator: Allen Bennett