Water scarcity, the Castanhão dam and development in the Brazilian semi-arid region: thematic obstacles to an unsuccessful practical experience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47149/pemo.v3i3.7169Keywords:
Mandatory travel, Public policy, Resettlement, Sanitation, Semi-arid, Work and incomeAbstract
The purpose of this article was to analyze the social impacts of a large reservoir in the Brazilian semi-arid region, according to the population displaced from urban as rural areas. Open, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 371 families, representing almost 10,400 families who lived in the new municipality of Jaguaribara. The results showed that the resettled people were not satisfied with their new living conditions, despite their contentment with their new homes, water supply and food supply; despite the improvement of the infrastructure, the resettlers underestimated the sanitation, health and education systems, as well as the work and income policy; the government has invested considerably in the infrastructure, but not in its operation and maintenance, nor in qualified personnel; this indicated that the focus of the investments was mainly on transferring capital to the construction industry, rather than providing good services to resettlers. The construction of the Castanho weir did not provide a better standard of living for the resettled, which suggested that water scarcity may be one of the causes, but it certainly was not the main cause of the obstacles to development in the Brazilian semiarid region.
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Copyright (c) 2021 Carlos Enrique Tupiño Salinas, Vládia Pinto Vidal de Oliveira, Liana Brito de Castro Araújo, José Carlos de Araújo
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