Biggest south American Development Scheme

Northern Advocate, 19 December 1949, Page 10

Biggest south American Development Scheme

(i »y Andre -,v Marshall) RIO DM .lANFFKO Qsy Ainuhil)—One of the potentially richest regions on earth, the Mao Francisco Valley in Brazil,• is today echoing to the thunder of blasting and the clatter of excavators as the most ambitious development plan ever undertaken m South America gets under way. The vaiii-y. which cuts through Brazil from the south-east to . i r ;o of the country, covers an area of over 650,000

square kilometres. Opening up of this vast trac will one day change the The development of the Sao Francisco Valley was promised in Brazil's 19-16 Constitution, which laid down that 1 per cent of national revenue should be devoted to the scheme for a period of 20 years. A bill now before Congress will au- I thorise Brazil's Treasury to guarantee a loan of .ft 5,000,000 from the International Bank to purchase equipment for the hydro-electric power station which is being built at the Paulo Afonso Falls. The work of building the two and a half mile long dam began early this year. * Over 1700 kilometres (about 1063 miles) of its course are navigable and it runs through some of the richest undeveloped country in the world. Iron and manganese ore, copper, zinc, bauxite, gold and diamonds are mined in these regions. Richer deposits yet untapped, however, are known to exist. In the middle Sao Francisco Valley, cattle already are being raised; but with modern facilities, herds could be increased and the quantity and quality of beef and hides vastly improved. In the upper region, climate and soil make ideal farming country. Only round the lower reaches of the river is the country arid and barren, although even home experts believe that, with irrigation, oilseeds and fibre crops could be grown on a large scale. | FIGHT AGAINST DISEASE I Side by side with the tremendous problems of taming nature in this wild district, goes the light against disease. Many of the valley regions were infested with malaria. To make them habitable, Brazil's anti-malarial service, three years ago, got to work and, as a result, settlements and farms are springing up in areas which were once fever ridden and uninhabitable.

T of country, with its unlimited e economic picture of Brazil. Brazil hopes ilia? soon a greater number of imini&rants from Europe may make their homes iu this valley. Brazilians believe that in this vast area, with its immense undeveloped resources, lies promise of prosperity ■ on a grand scale. . The valley development plan began .in 1947. Tiie plan includes the building of three hydro-electric power stations, river shipyards, dykes and expansion of clocks at 27 river ports, dredging and widening parts of the river and its tributaries, and the building of 23 telegraph circuits. Ii provides also for the building of a network of roads, electrification and expansion of railways, landing fields, dams and irrigation \ ark:;, hospitals and schools. The km, of the whole scheme is the power station on the Paulo Afonso Falls, 1900 miles from the river’s source. When completed, this station will supply cheap power to live of Brazil’s northern states, Bahia, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Farniba and Sergipe, almost doubling their present supply. The first generators are expected to begin working in 1953, producing 120,000 kws when the full nine generators are completed. Paulo Afonso will supply 540,000kws to an area of 220,000 square kilometres, populated by over 7,000,000 people, the majority of them farmers. The Paulo Afonso hydro-electric scheme is the largest project ever undertaken almost entirely by Brazilian engineers. In the barren, scrub-covered country near the 270 ft falls, a .small, modern town has sprung up in the desert to house the workers and their families. | Over 2000 men arc already employed ' on the project and this number will increase to 5000 as work progresses. —Reuters.