- Title: BRAZIL: MANAUS - ONE-TIME THRIVING CITY SEEKS NEW IMPETUS
- Date: 25th December 1971
- Summary: 1. GC Amazon being formed by Solimoes and Negro Rivers 0.06 2. GV Manaus river port 0.10 3. GV Ships being loaded & unloaded 0.21 4. GV Ships in dock 0.24 5. GV Manaus street scenes and shops 0.35 6. GV EXT. Amazon theatre 0.40 7. GV Rio Negro Palace 0.43 8. GV & SV Technical College 0.48 9. GV Old part of town (2 shots) 0.53 10. GV PAN Rubber Plantation 1.01 11. GV & SV Logs in River, ready to enter sawmill 1.07 12. GV & SV Logs being cut in sawmill (5 shots) 1.28 13. GV Pile of cut timber 1.31 14. GV & SV Buildings under construction & Builders signboards (8 shots) 1.54 15. GV & SV People on beach 2.03 16. GV Sun setting across river 2.08 Initials SGM/1131 SGM/1140 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 9th January 1972 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Mauaus, Brazil
- Country: Brazil
- Reuters ID: LVACSPJK56SM90WQ85NO0RFM0FA2
- Story Text: The Brazilian city of Manaus was once a centre of wealth and sophistication deep in the Amazon jungles.
Elaborate homes, and ornate commercial buildings were erected at the turn of the century - and when a new opera house was built in Manaus, it was Caruso who sang on the opening night.
Today many of the ornate buildings remain -- but as a centre of commerce and culture the city has declined into relative obscurity.
Manaus remains home for more than 300-thousand people and special efforts are being made to boost industry in the city.
Despite being 900 miles from the sea, Manaus is on the Amazon River - which provides a shipping access to the world.
The original wealth in Manaus came from rubber - but today it's timber and oil that are attracting the industrialists.
SYNOPSIS: Nine hundred miles from the sea -- the confluence of the Negro and Solimoes River and the start of the mighty Amazon. At that confluence - the Brazilian city of Manaus.
The port provides a direct access from Manaus to the world's leading industrial centres. A unique system of floating wharves solves the problem of a tide that rises and falls as much a 50 feet.
But the Manaus of today shows only a shadow of the wealth and sophistication the city enjoyed at the turn of the century.
Caruso sang here on opening night. Vast sums of money were once spent on the building of lavish commercial and residential buildings.
Technical education is now a top priority in Manaus - as efforts are made to bring new life to the city. Many of the older quarters have declined steadily with the decay of the rubber trade. Once Manaus was the world's rubber capital - new rubber plantations are rare.
Timber is fast becoming the major industry in Manaus. The Amazon region has more than 200 different kinds of hard-wood trees -- and 30 kinds of cellulose-producing trees. The rivers provide a cheap and easy way of moving the timber from the forest to the sawmill. The port supplies an outlet to the rest of Brazil and to world markets. The timber potential of the area is described as incalculable -- and economists are increasingly looking at the area as a new source of revenue from Brazil.
The influx of new industry for Manaus has provided a vigorous local market for timber. The city's population is increasing rapidly as government efforts to attract further investment continue. The building trade in Manaus has consequently found a new lease of life- and can barely cope with the demand for new houses.
For recreation, the people of Manaus have Pontanegra Beach (PAUSE BRIEFLY) Although Manaus still has a long way to go before regaining its former stature - local leaders believe a start has been made.
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