Known as Santa Catarina’s Big West, the region includes 130 municipalities in the state, from the Midwest to the Far West, and covers nearly half of Santa Catarina’s 295 cities. The population of the three regions is 1,317,556 people. Of great economic importance to the state, the GDP of the West, Midwest and Far West is $55.4 billion.
Main claims – motorways – Photo: Reproduction/NDAlthough it occupies a prominent role in the state’s economy, the Big West suffers from lagging behind in many segments. Seeking to set north and listing priorities in education, security, politics, health and infrastructure, FACISC (Federation of Santa Catarina Business Associations) released a booklet this Wednesday (27) showing what the state and each region needs to develop.
In the Midwestern region, the booklet points to the privatization of federal highways BR-470, BR-282 and BR-153. In addition, the booklet indicates the activation of state highways passing through the region, among which SK-350, SK-120, SK-452, SK-355, SK-464 and SK-465 are singled out.
Other topics mentioned for the Midwest are the expansion of the main power grid for municipalities from Videira to Cásador, motivated by increased demand. The study also refers to the completion of the project for Cásador, Videira and Joasaba airports. Health was also on the agenda, with Midwestern hospital chains and the offering of new neonatal and pediatric intensive care beds.
In the western region, among the points mentioned, a railway system was noted that will connect the west of Santa Catarina with the Brazilian center-west. SC-283 from Concordia to Itapiranga was also mentioned due to the need for revival and expansion.
Highways were widely cited with requests for reforms and extensions. To the west, BR-282, in the section between São Miguel do Hueste and Irani, BR-153 and BR 158, in addition to sections passing through the municipalities of Cordilleira Alta, Chancere, Xaxim and Pinhalzinho.
The expansion of the hospitals in Concordia, Chapeco and Xanser should lead to an increase in neonatal beds and a corresponding increase in medium-duty beds, as well as to enable the improvement of hospitals in smaller municipalities.
In the Far West, the construction of a bridge across the Uruguay River between Itapiranga and the state of Rio Grande do Sul is on the agenda. Relive SC-163 on the stretch between São Miguel do Oeste and Itapiranga.
The study points to the activation of BR-282 between São Miguel do Hueste and Chapeco, in addition to duplication and, in the first place, the construction of a highway at the intersection with BR-158.
Electricity for the Far West was also mentioned. The text also mentions the need to change the pedagogical plans of primary and secondary education, with the introduction of a compulsory subject in the school curriculum, in innovative and entrepreneurial education.
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Movement for the Big West
In June of this year, the proposal for the Greater West was presented to the FACISC chairman. The document calls for BR-282 and is signed by representatives of the business associations of the three FACISC regional offices in Great West.
Built in the 1960s/1970s, BR-282 is a federal highway connecting the West, the Plateau and the coast, and is essential for the flow of the vast agro-industrial products of the Big West to ports and major Brazilian consumption centers.
However, according to the movement, it bears a stigma: it is a stage of horror, with daily deaths and heavy economic losses as a result of its constant desolation along important sections of its route. The situation has already been condemned in the “Manifesto for the West”, published in January of this year.
“The highway is suffering from wear and tear on its lane and structure, which, having been developed for more than 50 years, did not foresee such a strong increase in export traffic, which is millions of dollars circulating on the roads. More than 500,000 tons of meat, grain and dairy products are transported monthly to the share of agro-industrial production alone,” the document says.
Traffic
More than 700,000 pigs per month and 60 million birds per month (live cargo) pass through BR-282 and are delivered to agribusinesses. Seven out of ten tons of pork and poultry exported by Brazil come from the west of Santa Catarina.
“Forgotten by the authorities, the road has become a logistical bottleneck for the transport of all agricultural products of the western region, recognized as the largest producer of pork in the country, one of the largest producers of poultry meat, the largest exporter of pork and poultry, and the largest Brazilian industrial meat center. There is no direct calculation of the losses that this situation represents, but companies in the Western region believe that the terrible conditions of the BR-282 bear the load by almost 40%, ”the manifesto emphasizes.
The document emphasizes that special attention should be paid to the restoration and improvement of the bridge over the Chapeco River between Nova Erechim and Nova Itaberaba. Investing in BR-282 is an urgent need that should be a priority for the federal and state governments, Parliament and the public.
“Only heavy, consistent and constant investment will stop the merciless slaughter that bloodies the BR-282, without sparing young people, children and adults; keeping the population in small municipalities, controlling regional migration and reducing the littoralization process in Santa Catarina; attracting financial capital to productive investments in the green belly, increasing the international competitiveness of raw materials and manufactured products from the greater west of Santa Catarina, and improving the quality of life of the population of the region,” the manifesto says.
Source: Ndmais