Bolsonaro left Civil Defense with only R$ 2 million for slope containment in 2023, says Lula's transition team.
Approximately 8 million Brazilians live in areas that routinely require emergency government initiatives during the rainy season.
Brazil of Fact - Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP) said, this Tuesday (22), that the Civil Defense has a scarce budget for 2023, the first year of Lula's (PT) administration, and that there is a lack of money for actions related to helping the population living in risk areas in the country.
According to the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts of Natural Disasters (Cemaden), 8,2 million Brazilians live in such areas, and it is common for this segment to require emergency initiatives from the government during the rainy season, which occurs especially from January onwards in different parts of the country.
"To give you an idea of the gravity of the situation, for the eventuality of activating Civil Defense in January, we have no budget allocation. To say that we have none would be inaccurate; the Civil Defense budget for slope containment is R$ 2 million. I think R$ 2 million is insufficient for a flood in a city in the interior of the country," Randolfe exemplified.
The parliamentarian is part of the Regional Development Technical Group (GT) that works on the transition process, a group that brings together names such as Senator-elect Camilo Santana (PT-CE), Senator Otto Alencar (PSD-BA) and the governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho (MDB).
The team met for the first time this Tuesday in Brasília (DF) with the Minister of Regional Development of the Bolsonaro government, Daniel Ferreira, and brought to light the concern of Lula's allies with what Randolfe called a "chaotic and dramatic situation" in the ministry.
"The first scenario we encountered in the ministry is one that inspires great concern. Given the current budgetary situation, in January, the federal government will have no capacity whatsoever to invest in regional development. The ministry's budgetary resources are all fragmented," he said, adding that the problem is related to the so-called "secret budget" of the Bolsonaro administration, also known as the rapporteur's amendments or RP-9.
Randolfe highlighted that the way the former captain's government decided to handle resources shows a "lack of coordination" regarding budget execution in this area. "While there are almost R$ 2 billion allocated to Codevasf, on the other hand, there is a lack of money to be invested in slope containment, in Civil Defense works. And, as everyone knows, [due to] emergencies, we will need to act as early as January of this [next] year because of the summer rains and the imminence of this situation."
Linked to the Ministry of Regional Development (MDR), the São Francisco and Parnaíba Valleys Development Company (Codevasf) was handed over by Bolsonaro to the centrist bloc in exchange for political support and is now the target of investigations by the Federal Police (PF) due to accusations of fraud in public bidding.
Relocation
Randolfe stated that the current situation at the Ministry of Regional Development (MDR) increases the need for dialogue between Lula's team and parliament regarding the reallocation of funds within the federal administration. The group is currently working to try and get the "Transition Amendment" (PEC da Transição) approved by the National Congress. The president-elect's focus at this moment is obtaining political support for the approval of the text, which should give the new government the means to fund certain actions.
"We have around R$ 18 million allocated to Housing. There is no longer a housing policy in the Brazilian State at this moment. We need to redirect resources to housing policy; we need to start building houses again. We have too much money for individual parliamentary needs and a lack of money for the discretionary needs of the Brazilian State," added Randolfe.
The congressman highlighted that the situation is more serious because Bolsonaro has dismantled a series of public policies and also the constitutional funds. These latter funds are generally stable sources of money used for investment in the development of the Northeast, North, and Central-West regions. "The budgetary situation is serious. It's a situation that requires a great deal of attention," said Randolfe.
District deputy Leandro Grass (PV), who is part of the same working group as the senator in the transition team, believes that Lula's team will be able to reallocate resources to guarantee an injection of funds into the most sensitive areas of the MDR, such as investments in the housing sector.
"These are warning signs, but they are not irreversible points either. I think it's more a matter of budgetary intelligence and planning so that, when the ministerial structure is reorganized, we know what goes where."
Subscribe to 247, Support via Pix, Subscribe to TV 247, in the channel Cuts 247 and watch: