Fico’s executive project will be release in February

The CEO of Valec Engenharia, Construções e Ferrovias S.A, José Eduardo Sabóia Castelo Branco, announced the resumption of the works of East-West Integration Rairoad (Fico – Ferrovia Integração Centro-Oeste) at a meeting with Governor Silval Barbosa. The meeting took place on the afternoon of this Wednesday (January 18) in Brasilia. Castelo Branco said that in February this year the notice to bid for hiring the Fico executive project will be opened.

The CEO of the state-owned company linked to the Ministry of Transport expects that in the second half of 2013 the issuing of the work order for the start of the work linking Campinorte (state of Goiás) to Vilhena (state of Rondônia), passing by Lucas do Rio Verde (354 km north of Cuiabá) will be made.

In total, the railroad will have 900 km – worked in seven lots – and the resource of US$ 2.26 billion has already been provided by the Brazilian Growth Acceleration Program (PAC – Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento). “I consider Fico one of the most important logistics works not only for Mato Grosso, but for the entire Midwest,” the governor said.

The agility in the construction of Senador Vicente Vuolo Railroad and the continuity of the work to connect Rondonópolis to Cuiabá were also in the agenda of the meeting between the State Government and Valec. Castelo Branco said that the intent is to accelerate the environmental studies and basic projects for the execution of the work.

At the time, Silval and the Special Secretary of Transport Intermodal Logistics Monitoring, Francisco Vuolo, also spoke about the stretch Cuiabá-Santarém, punctuating the possibility of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with a Chinese group to carry out this part of the railroad.

Silval and the General Director of the National Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DNIT – Departamento Nacional de Infraestrutura e Transporte), Jorge Ernesto Pinto Fraxe, signed on this Wednesday the agreement that assured the commitment to the Beltway in Cuiabá, in the amount of US$ 16.99 million. It was also assured the commitment to the ring road to be built in Barra do Garças, major works to ease the traffic in the two regions.

According to the governor, during the meeting it also was agreed that the recovery works for BR-174 (connecting Cáceres to Rondônia), 080 (current MT-322, which goes from the Bom Jesus do Araguaia to Peixoto de Azevedo) and BR-158 (connecting Barra do Garças a Vila Rica) will be bid again. Silval Barbosa said that the repair of these stretches have a critical importance to the economy of Mato Grosso. He points out that the BR-158 stretch, for example, is an important agricultural region.

Funding for restoration works is guaranteed, and the next step will be the bidding of these works. The meeting was attended by the federal deputy Wellington Fagundes, the Secretary of Industry, Commerce, Mines and Energy, Pedro Nadaf, and the special secretary of the 2014 World Cup, Eder Morares.