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The Development Bank approved a $ 34 million US dollars funding for the action program for improving the quality of life for the inhabitants of São Gonçalo do Amarante, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. This is the first time that Brazil uses resources of FONPLATA Green Funding Line, which will enable the municipality to carry out works on sanitation, urban mobility and the creation of public leisure areas.

The loan will enable the municipality to develop the Programa de Ações Estruturantes de São Gonçalo do Amarante – PAES (Program for Structural Measures), which will address the deficit in services and infrastructure related to urban sanitation, road network and green urban areas. The total cost of the program is $ 42.5 million US dollars. The Development Bank will fund $ 34 million US dollars, and the local contribution will be of $ 8.5 million dollars.

São Gonçalo do Amarante is 8 miles from Natal, the capital city of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, and is going through a period of expansion, experiencing economic and demographic growth, as international airport Aluízio Alves, which covers the demand of the whole region, is located in this municipality. With an average of 6.2 million passengers per year, it is the main access gate to the state of Rio Grande do Norte and is aimed to be an important cargo and passengers’ hub in Latin America.

The works, to be carried out by the Municipality of São Gonçalo, will expand the supply of drinking water and the sewage systems, and improve urban mobility by paving new roads, upgrading existing roads surfaces, implementing macrodrainage works to prevent flooding, and creating pedestrian and bike paths. Essential to improve the population quality of life is the construction of the two first public parks in the city: Nascentes do Rio Golandim Park (25 acres) and Ecofloclórico Rockefeller Park (356 acres). Besides improving environmental conditions in the city by helping to maintain a balanced ecosystem, cleaning the air and safeguarding biodiversity, green urban areas such as these play an important social role, as they promote social cohesion, by strengthening community bonds and well-being, by offering leisure and resting spaces.

São Gonçalo do Amarante will be the first Brazilian municipality to have access to FONPLATA Green Funding Line, which promotes the demand of environmentally sustainable projects by applying a lower interest rate. The fund is focused on projects that help mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases by preserving woods and foresting, and implementing works to adjust to climate change with regard to the efficiency in the use and the protection of services related to the conservation of water sources.

02/18/2020