Lula Authorizes 1,500-Kilometer Road Through Heart Of Amazon - Reuters

[hatrack]

Brasilia - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gave the green light on Monday to paving a controversial road through the Amazon rainforest, benefiting farmers and worrying environmentalists.

Lula authorised paving a 1 570km section of the highway from Cuiaba, in Brazil's centre-west grain belt, to the Amazon River port of Santarem, a move that could cut travel time for trucks to about 3-1/2 hours, from nine hours.

The improvement of the road, now little more than a dirt track that washes out in seasonal rains, will also help cut transport costs for grain exports. Currently, grains are sent to the far south, where the main grain ports lie.

However, environmentalists fear paving the road will speed the destruction of the world's largest rainforest by squatters, ranchers, loggers and soy farmers.

The government said it is adopting strict environmental controls to help protect the rain forest and has created a "sustainable forestry reserve" of 19 million hectares around the road. "This project will show how we can be Brazilian without being predators, as foreigners often say about Brazil," Lula said during a ceremony marking World Environment Day.


EDIT

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_SciTech&set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw1149548401154B216

Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Lula.