The company has donated biosafety kits to the municipality of Serra do Salitre, a community neighboring the CMISS project.

In early May, the Serra do Salitre city council health and education departments in Minas Gerais, where Techint E&C is carrying out the CMISS project, asked the company to help them in their efforts to counteract the spread of the coronavirus. Techint E&C made donations to both departments, including biosafety kits to help healthcare personnel working on the front line, in addition to its periodic recharges of medicinal oxygen cylinders used to treat coronavirus patients, an initiative which is due to conclude in mid-June.

However, as the pandemic is getting worse, the municipality, which is located in the Mining Triangle, and already had the support of the company in 2020, reactivated its alliance to forestall the possibility of running out of equipment and supplies to combat COVID-19. The city's Health department duly defined priorities and Techint donated 36,000 pairs of surgical gloves, 100 chemical coveralls, 1,250 surgical masks, 500 liters of 70% alcohol gel, in addition to programming 225 oxygen cylinders refills.

In the area of education, the return to face-to-face classes had already created a demand for basic materials to recondition schools so they could receive pupils with the necessary health and safety protocols. The company donated 90 liters of 70% alcohol-gel, 30 hand hygiene dispensers, 40 sanitizing mats and 30 forehead thermometers.

Techint E&C began operations at the Serra do Salitre Industrial Mining Complex (CMISS) in September 2018. The company made donations to local institutions and public bodies both before and during the pandemic, in tandem with contributions from employees who also donated their time and efforts on a voluntary basis.

Carlos Gomez, Assistant of Social Responsibility, who has been working as a liaison officer between the projects and stakeholders to organize these donations in the context of the emergency, says that "it’s in this kind of situation that Techint steps up its commitment to the people and communities of which it is a part."

The materials were extremely well received by the city. “It was a big relief for us at the municipality and for the schools to receive this donation from Techint E&C. We really appreciate their effort, dedication and commitment, and hope that this alliance will be the first of many such efforts,” said the Secretary of Education, Caique Fernando Maciel.

The company has dedicated considerable energy to a number of social projects in Serra do Salitre and Patrocínio. From 2019 to 2021, it carried out the Transparent Municipality Program in both cities and in Minas Gerais more generally, in alliance with the civil associations Ethos Institute and Agenda Pública, to provide training in ethics to public officials, enabling public access to information to be more transparent. The two cities started the program with transparency rates well below the national average and, after approximately two years, in Serra do Salitre, the indicator showed a 233% improvement, while in Patrocínio it improved by 57% (click here for more details).