Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva announced on Monday on his official radio show "Coffee with the President" that the Luz Para Todos (Electricity for All) program had already benefited 3.3 million people in the country.

President Lula praised the program as the most humane project undertaken by the Brazilian government. He said that he himself had lived in a house without electricity until he was seven, so "I know what it means to see electric energy for the first time. It changes everything," Lula said.

"People start being able to buy a refrigerator, a radio, a TV. These are simple things that make their lives improve substantially," he added

Minister of Mines and Energy Silas Roundeau, who also participated in the show, particularly mentioned that, because of the program, hundreds of Brazilians for the first time had the chance to watch the Brazilian football team playing at the World Cup.

The Luz Para Todos program was initiated in 2004 and is projected to provide electricity to 10 million people in rural areas by 2008. Mines and Energy Ministry officials expect the program to reach 5 million people by the end of 2006.

The program spends an average of 5,300 reals (about 2,300 U.S. dollars) for each house to connect to the power line.

Source: Xinhua