ALE is considered the most dilapidated in the country.

Alagoas247 - The precarious state of the State Legislative Assembly (ALE) was highlighted in Folha de S.Paulo this Tuesday (16). Considered the most dilapidated Assembly in the country, the House does not have fixed telephone lines or an electronic system for monitoring processes. There, everything is done by hand.

The Legislative Assembly of Alagoas (ALE), the scene of recent embezzlement scandals in recent years, receives approximately R$ 12 million from the state. Of this total, R$ 8.000 to R$ 10 goes towards the purchase of materials, according to the president, Fernando Toledo (PSDB). Even so, according to employees, there is a shortage of office supplies. Some departments are even pooling money to clean the air conditioning. Toledo denies the problems and claims that there have never been as many advances as during his administration.

Folha visited the Alagoas State Assembly last month and confirmed most of the problems reported by employees. Only one bathroom is open to the public, and only five computers were seen by the reporters. Folders with files and documents about the Assembly are left scattered on the floor or piled up in cardboard boxes.

Eduardo Fernandes, 54, a civil servant for over 30 years, believes the assembly will be the last public office in Brazil to abandon the typewriter. An IBM electric typewriter was only taken out of service at the registry office because it broke down a few months ago. Now, everything is done by hand.

The situation is so critical that, last month, the administrative staff brought in two maids to do a general cleaning, says Fernandes, director of legislative support and president of the civil servants' association. "The laws here are still written in books. When they call me from Brasília asking for information, I tell them I can't give it to them."

Phones

Some deputies decided to transfer existing landlines to their offices. The bills are paid by the parliamentarians themselves. The report found landlines in the offices of three of them: Judson Cabral (PT), Ronaldo Medeiros (PT), and Joãozinho Pereira (PSDB).

"If we don't have the bare minimum we need, imagine what it's like for daycare, health insurance, transportation assistance. The Assembly is constantly dragging its feet," says Luciano Vieira, president of the employees' union.

Dissatisfaction is reaching the deputies. "It's a dilapidated assembly, lacking agility. The processing of documents isn't computerized. It's a real ordeal," says Judson Cabral (PT).

On the site, there is also a "ghost library," which received R$ 1 million, but is deserted, as the report found.

Sérgio Jucá, the Attorney General of Alagoas, says the state legislature lacks "decency."

He says that, in retaliation for the Prosecutor's investigations into the allegations, the Assembly reduced this year the Public Prosecutor's proposal for its own operating expenses from R$ 13 million to R$ 2 million. Toledo denies this.

Of the 27 state representatives in Alagoas, 19 will seek reelection, five may be replaced by relatives, one did not register a candidacy, and two announced they will leave public life.

President of the Assembly

The president of the Legislative Assembly of Alagoas, Fernando Toledo (PSDB), downplayed the lack of structure and materials in the House.

According to him, who was removed from his position last year following allegations of embezzlement, the House's Board of Directors concluded, for example, that there is no need for landline telephones.

"People think that public equipment belongs to no one. The bills were very high," he says.

The budget for the library, he stated, was cut and the space closed due to lack of use. "I've been talking to other presidents and nobody accesses the library of any branch of government," he says.

Toledo said that the closure of restrooms is occasional. "There may be maintenance, but everything is normal."

The president stated that there is a bidding process underway for the computerization of certain sectors and that "never in the history of the Alagoas Parliament have there been so many advances" as there are now.

He denied that the House had cut funding to the Public Prosecutor's Office in retaliation for ongoing investigations.

"It was a technical evaluation. I have a very good relationship with all the prosecutors," said Toledo, who will not seek re-election. His son, Bruno Toledo (PSDB), is a candidate for a seat in the House.

With gazetaweb.com