Brasilia – Minister of Science and Technology Marcos PontesHe called the government’s cuts in its portfolio budget “damaging” and said research could not be “turned on and off”. The speech was given live on social networks on Saturday the 24th.

“Yesterday was a very busy day in Brasilia, and when the 2021 budget was released too late, we were already in April. We are both working on next year’s budget, what we are going to do with this year’s budget, with the damage, we will call it that. That budget was really compressed, ”the minister said.

As Estado / Broadcast, President Jair Bolsonaro The veto is $ 200 million It will be used to develop the “100% Brazilian” Kovid-19 vaccine announced by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Overall, the portfolio blocked $ 272 million and vetoed $ 371 million. If storage and space are within the cost range, blocked resources can be released throughout the year, which limits cost growth.

Gap

Pontes said live that he would hold meetings during the week to discuss with his team what projects could go ahead and be stand-by and that they should be cut. He did not say what would happen to the Brazilian vaccine program.

“It simply came to our notice then. There are certain types of projects, without budget, there is a gap, and that gap kills the project. Research is not something you have to turn on and off, there is no such thing, it has to continue, ”he said.

As Minister of Portfolio, he said that the science and technology budget needs to be resisted and that developed countries have reached this stage with constant investment in the sector.

“It’s not an overnight thing, it’s the equivalent of education, there’s no point in investing in a truck of education in one year, nothing next year,” he said. “Government officials talk a lot about spending, but we need to see that resources for science and technology are not spent, it is an investment that will bring a lot of results to the country. But the results are not immediate, they need to be made. ”