The 'Alagoas Has a Hurry' program fails.

Alagoas247 Presented as the great solution to the state's chronic problems, the "Alagoas Tem Pressa" (Alagoas Has a Hurry) program is entering its final phase of implementation and, so far, has shown modest results in the areas of education, public safety, economic development, and health. In March 2011, Governor Teotonio Vilela Filho (PSDB) announced the program, which he said would be "a watershed moment in this government's management of the needs of the people of Alagoas." The goals of "Alagoas Tem Pressa" were developed by the consulting firm Macroplan, at a cost of R$ 5,2 million, to be paid by the end of Vilela's term in December 2014. This contract was awarded without a bidding process.

Contrary to the goals set by the "Alagoas Tem Pressa" program, the state has once again appeared in the national press as the leader in the illiteracy ranking in all of Brazil – according to data from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) – as well as the state with the highest number of gun-related deaths in the country, according to the 2013 Violence Map. Since the program's launch, state deputy Ronaldo Medeiros (PT) has questioned the Executive's intentions and warned of the need for a more socially-oriented approach to the needs of the Alagoas population in order for the program to achieve the necessary success.

"Traveling throughout the state, we observe that the social programs of this administration are not progressing, or even have a decent pace, to meet the needs of the Alagoas population. The program itself, in its philosophical context, is well-structured. However, in the execution of the actions and goals intended by the Executive branch, it doesn't even come close to meeting the historical aspirations of the suffering people of Alagoas. No one – in a poor state like ours – will live daily only on the goals of the program. People need more, much more. It's not enough to be beautiful or well-designed; it has to deliver results. And, despite the high investment with resources from the state treasury, so far it has achieved almost nothing," the Workers' Party member recalled.

The legislator believes that the R$ 5 million invested in hiring the consulting firm Macroplan could have been used to strengthen public policies to combat crime, or to create computerized systems that would facilitate the work of public security agents.

"I and the entire society of Alagoas have not felt, in more than three years of the program, the effectiveness of the goals, much less those that the State publicizes in official propaganda. From the beginning, I have closely followed every step and in the coming days I will have a meeting with representatives of Seplande [State Secretariat of Planning and Economic Development] to demand results in view of the resources, money and time spent over these years. At the meeting, I will bring some suggestions, such as investments in education and sports, to reverse the sad picture of violence. In the capital and in the interior, I visited the most violent neighborhoods and did not see a single sports court. Today, the 'Safer Brazil' plan has mapped the areas that shed the most blood in Alagoas, but unfortunately forgot the social aspect. How can we change the social context in this way?", asked Medeiros.

According to state representative João Henrique Caldas (JHC, from the Solidariedade party), it's impossible to believe in the "Alagoas Has a Hurry" program, given that its goals are for 10, 20, and even 30 years from now. The representative argues that the urgency and the situation in which Alagoas society is immersed demand immediate action. "It's impossible to believe in a program that preaches urgency, but whose main focus will be in 2022 or who knows when. I believe there was a great deal of presumption on the part of those who drafted the goals, or even megalomaniacal thinking. Therefore, I also believe that these people think they should be in power, leading the state of Alagoas, by then. The incoherence isn't limited to this aspect. The creators call the program 'Alagoas Has a Hurry,' and now, even with considerable effort, I can't see the promised immediate results. They want to play with our intelligence, that's all it can be," JHC pondered.

After three years without the promised results – according to JHC's analysis – the "Alagoas Tem Pressa" program was a poorly executed marketing ploy by the state government's managers. "The results, or rather, the lack of results, show that everything was an attempt at a marketing ploy. They believed that with these goals they would satisfy the population's needs at that moment. Even with the expenditure of R$ 5 million, the result promised to the population did not materialize and will not materialize. The only result will be the excessive spending of public funds from a poor population that is demanding change," stated JHC, drawing attention to the fact that the program was designed to obtain loans from international financial institutions.

Answer

Through its press office, Seplande (the State Planning Secretariat) informed that, of the projects planned for completion by the end of 2014, the state government has already completed 166, and these actions are within the projects considered "priority structuring projects," fundamental to the "Alagoas Tem Pressa" (Alagoas Has a Hurry) program. Seplande also emphasizes that the number of actions is not directly related to the time period, considering that the vast majority of deliveries will be made in 2014.

With gazetaweb.com