Councilors in the capital of São Paulo denounced cases of loss of mortal remains in cemeteries managed by Grupo Maya. In an extraordinary meeting at the São Paulo City Council, this Wednesday (13), the representative of the concessionaire provided information about the units under his management: Campo Grande, Lageado, Lapa, Parelheiros and Saudade.
Author of the requests who also took a representative of the concessionaire Console and from SP Regula to meetings at the house, councilor Rubinho Nunes (UNIÃO) reported that there are several complaints related to municipal cemeteries. Among them, complaints of charging abusive prices for wakes and burials, low quality of maintenance and administration of units and poor provision of funeral services.
The CEO of Grupo Maya, Ricardo Gontijo, informed that, to date, R$192.5 million has been spent on cemeteries managed by the concessionaire. There were R$154 million for the concession, R$15 million in direct investments and R$23 million for maintenance, conservation, infrastructure, construction of drawers, teams and security. The company has until 2027 to complete all investments foreseen in the contract.
Also according to Gontijo, in one year and eight months of concession, 63 infraction notices were issued and four fines were paid, totaling R$2,000. Questioned by Nunes about compliance with the concession requirements, the director stated that the company complies with “all contractual obligations”, including setting prices in cemeteries and on the website.
The councilors presented complaints that Grupo Maya was charging prices above the price list for funeral services in the capital, which was denied by the CEO. “I am not aware of complaints [quanto ao Grupo Maya praticando preços] that go beyond the table”, said Gontijo.
Loss of remains
A complaint reported by councilor Adriano Santos (PT) took place in the Saudade cemetery. “Ms. Zilda invested R$23,000 to renovate a tomb in the cemetery and exhumed five bodies. When he returned, everyone had disappeared. She has been looking for two bodies for four months,” he said. “I would like you to answer when she will have the news of where the [outros] family members”, requested the councilor.
“I have no knowledge of the specific case, we will make every effort to find these bones”, replied the CEO of Grupo Maya. He added, however, that the exhumations carried out by the concessionaire “follow the strictest parameters”.
Councilor Silvia from Bancada Feminista (Psol) presented the case for a compulsory exhumation in July 2023, in which remains were also lost. “How do you carry out compulsory exhumation and then lose it, don’t you know where these remains are? It just disappeared,” he said. The case is that of a father who is waiting for his daughter’s remains.
Other similar cases, also involving loss of human remains, were brought by councilors Rubinho Nunes and Sonaira Fernandes. “I commit to each of these cases that this distinguished commission brought that we will analyze one by one and, in fact, also resolve these cases”, replied the CEO of Grupo Maya. When asked about penalties, he informed that the concessionaire was not fined by SP Regula for the loss of bodies in cemeteries managed by the company.
Quality of services
Rubinho Nunes requested a self-assessment of the quality of services provided by Grupo Maya, on a scale from poor to excellent. “Considering one year and eight months of operation, taking care of centuries-old cemeteries that were in a very high degree of abandonment, and all the investments we have already made, I consider that our score is regular”, said the CEO. He added that the concessionaire is “moving towards excellence, by 2027 we will have all the investments made, fulfilling our contract royally.”
On Monday (11), the meeting was attended by João Manoel da Costa Neto, CEO of SP Regula – the regulatory agency responsible for supervising concessions. He assessed the situation of municipal cemeteries as “regular”, on a scale from excellent to very poor. SP Regula has registered, to date, a total of 141 infraction notices, which resulted in 22 fines.
The following day (12), the CEO of Consolare, Mauricio Costa, informed that the 21 notifications to the concessionaire were, for the most part, problems related to janitorial services, fire extinguishers and the amounts charged. Of the total number of notifications, four were converted into fines. He assessed the quality of the units managed by Consolare as “good, moving towards excellent”. They are: Consolação, Quarta Parada, Santana, Tremembé, Vila Mariana and Vila Formosa I and II.
