RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In an ordinance published on Friday, November 21st, in the Federal Gazette, Alexandre Lucas Alves, the national secretary for Civil Protection and Defense, recognizes “by summary procedure, the state of public calamity in the Amapá state area, affected by the disaster”.
The Ministry of Regional Development has issued an ordinance recognizing the state of public calamity in Amapá. On November 3rd, a fire in a substation transformer left 14 of the state’s 16 cities with no power. It was more than 80 hours without electricity and currently the population is limited in terms of supply, on a rotation system.
Amapá had already been in a state of emergency when R$21.5 million were transferred to the state for the rental of generators and the purchase of fuel.
In practice, there is no difference between a state of emergency and calamity. But the state of calamity provides greater legal security and allows the federal government to advance the payment of pensions and welfare benefits such as the Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC) and the ‘Bolsa Família’ (Family Grant).
According to the Minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque, power may be restored in full by November 26th.