The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Luciana Santos, announced an investment of R$40 million to purchase laboratory equipment lost in the fire at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), when visiting the Recife campus this Friday (9). These resources are in addition to the R$28 million announced by the Minister of Education, Leonardo Barchini, on Thursday (8).
"What I am committing to right now is emergency aid that corresponded to the investment we made in research infrastructure. These are the equipment that Finep acquired. [...] At the same time, Dean Alfredo's team has always been together carrying out surveys so that we, in the quickest way possible, can guarantee the full resumption of the research and development that existed here", said the minister.
The amount, which arrives on an emergency basis through a National Development and Technology Fund, is available to be transferred to the institution. This amount of emergency aid is the same as that previously applied by the Studies and Projects Financier (Finep) in the center's research infrastructure.
The equipment acquired will continue the research that was carried out in the building hit by the fire on Wednesday night (7), which caused an estimated loss of R$ 100 million, according to the rector of UFPE, Alfredo Gomes.
The two-story property is expected to be rebuilt, using the same executive project as a UFPE research center located in Sertânia, in the Sertão of the state. Until the building is ready in Recife, the new equipment will work in other laboratories at the university.
The equipment lost in the fire was state-of-the-art, according to UFPE, and went beyond simple computers. On site, for example, there was a Biological Level 3 (NB3) laboratory, also called a containment laboratory and used for handling pathogens, such as coronavirus, tuberculosis, HIV, dengue fever and yellow fever.
According to vice-rector Moacyr Cunha, the objective is that research does not stop, due to its social importance. The centers researched topics such as cancer, Covid-19 and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
"Some of this equipment, most of it, will be moved to other laboratories, to continue research in these laboratories while we manage to build the other [building]. The most important thing is not to let this research stop, it is to continue all these studies. These are decades-long studies, it is a huge amount of information", said Moacyr Cunha.
While federal resources do not arrive, an investigation has begun in the building destroyed by the flames. The Federal Police, using a drone and robot with a camera, were able to visualize the damage inside the property. However, for the team to be able to enter safely, the building must be shored up.
The service to prevent collapse and preserve the structure during the inspection will be carried out by a company already contracted by UFPE. According to the dean, an amendment will be made to the current contract, and interventions must begin within 15 days.
"We are in a contract with a company that works here at the university, in a certain contract, and we are going to make an amendment to the company's contract to immediately start supporting the building. These resources, the ministry also committed to making, but the support is not a significant budget. The company needs to come back here to study how it will proceed, so that we can carry out this emergency contracting. There is no [date], but I believe that in the next 15 days we have also resolved this", said the dean.
While experts are unable to access the building, the investigation continues using data collected from the external area. Security camera files and records of who was on campus on the night of the fire, which were provided by UFPE, are also analyzed.
This was the third fire that occurred on the University's Recife campus in a week, being the largest.
