Brazil names new transport infrastructure executives

The Brazilian government appointed new executives to the national department of transport infrastructure (DNIT).

Retired army general Antonio Leite dos Santos Filho was named director general – the top post – of DNIT, according to a statement from the infrastructure ministry, which oversees the agency.

President Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain who took office January 1, has named several retired military officers to key infrastructure posts. In Brazil, the armed forces are used on certain infrastructure projects, mainly in remote areas where private sector companies have little interest in participating.

In addition, André Kuhn was named DNIT executive director, Márcio Lima Medeiros director of administration and finance, Karoline Lemos director of waterways, Euclides Bandeira de S. Neto director of road infrastructure, Luiz Guilherme R. de Mello planning and research director, and Marcelo Almeida Chagas railway infrastructure director.

"We need to provide more logistics throughout the country, reduce transaction costs, generate economic effects. And this is our mission. I am sure that this new board will be very successful in this collective effort to improve transportation, save lives and provide the structure that Brazil so badly needs," said infrastructure minister Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas.