Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP), who is part of the transition team in the Regional Development thematic group of the elected government, said this Thursday (1st) that half of the works in the area of sanitation are at a standstill in the country. The information is among the data systematized by the group in a preliminary report. 
“The Ministry [do Desenvolvimento Regional] it is a veritable cemetery of stopped works. And with this budgetary model, if it continues, it tends to sharpen. To give you an idea, 50% of sanitation works in the country are paralyzed,” he said during a press conference at the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center (CCBB), in Brasília, seat of the transitional government.
According to the senator, most of the portfolio’s budget is guaranteed by parliamentary amendments, in actions such as the purchase of tractors and asphalt paving “without criteria”, which are disconnected from the final objectives of the portfolio, in Rodrigues’ assessment. Because of this, 80% of the ministry’s actions are concentrated in regions with a high level of economic development, according to data collected by the team.
In addition, Randolfe Rodrigues said that the budget for next year, of around R$ 3 billion, is much lower than necessary, which would be in the range of R$ 5 billion. “It is yet another piece of data that informs the need for approval of the proposal for a constitutional amendment that was presented this week in the National Congress”, he pointed out, in reference to the Transition PECto exclude Emergency Aid from the spending cap rule and open budgetary space for new expenses.
Construction
Another data reported by the Regional Development WG is the total lack of resources for emergency works against floods, common at the beginning of the year in different regions of the country. Of the BRL 506 million requested by the National Secretariat for Civil Defense, the estimated budget is only BRL 3 million, less than 1% of what is needed.
“It means that no slope containment and disaster prevention work will be carried out”, warned Randolfe Rodrigues. Between 2018 and 2022, the portfolio’s discretionary budget, informed the senator, was reduced by 67%, impacting mainly resources for works to prevent and combat natural disasters.
Another paralyzed action in the portfolio, according to Rodrigues, is Operation Carro Pipa, which has been suspended in the Northeast Region since November 15th, threatening the water security of an estimated population of 1.5 million people. Still for this year, R$ 50 million would be needed for this action, resources that are not available.
During the press conference, members of the Regional Development WG defended the division of the portfolio into Cities and National Integration ministries, a format that was in force during the PT governments.
“The conclusion we are making is that the ministry was a totally ill-planned merger”, said Rodrigues. The decision on the creation of new folders will be decided by the president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva himself at the end of the transition works.
“The idea is to go back to what the Ministry of Cities was like, with actions on traffic, mobility and housing, and the part of urban development, water security, territorial ordering, regional funds and regional banks under the management of the Ministry of National Integration”, said the senator-elect Camilo Santana (PT-CE), who is also part of the group.
The report contacted the current management of the Ministry of Regional Development. for comment on the data presented by the transition team, but has not received a response to date.
