Rationing: an old problem in Greater Recife
Last week, residents of the Metropolitan Region were once again confronted with an old problem that the Pirapama System had promised to bury; due to the construction of a network for the Arena PE, 1,5 million people were affected.
Leonardo Lucena_PE247 –The water rationing that began on the 10th and will end at 1,5 pm this Sunday (15) - for the purpose of carrying out a relocation of the Tapacurá System, with the aim of enabling a distribution network to Arena PE - gives rise to some questions and reflections on this torment that, for decades, has arisen at certain times of the year in Greater Recife. Large-scale systems, such as the Pirapama, were built to put an end to this type of problem. However, due to the negligence of the Public Authorities, the operation with a large water distribution network was not sufficient to continuously serve the entire Metropolitan Region of Recife (RMR). Approximately 15 million people were affected.
A clear reflection of this is what happened last year, when there was rationing for 17 consecutive days in several neighborhoods of Recife and Jaboatão dos Guararapes, the latter in the southern part of the Metropolitan Region. Even with resources from the Federal Government, through the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), the State Government, with the Pernambuco Sanitation Company (Compesa), is unable to transform state and federal funds into projects that will not suffer disruptions without harming the population.
As the state grows, it becomes necessary to restructure water supply and treatment systems to keep pace with the infrastructural changes in the municipalities. Even the construction of other systems, such as Tapacurá, Alto do Céu, and Botafogo, has not completely solved the problem. Curiously, these systems were implemented to direct water to cities like Camarabille, São Lourenço da Mata, both in the western zone of the Recife Metropolitan Region, and Jaboatão, three municipalities affected by rationing that will extend until July 15th.
One of the solutions that garnered praise from experts and residents of Pernambuco was the State Government's initiative to create a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), in which Compesa will obviously partner with a private entity. In fact, the trend is for PPPs to gain traction throughout Brazil. In Pernambuco, this model has become a common practice since 2007.
The Pernambuco state-owned company will be responsible for the execution phase of such projects, while the private company will handle the management. However, even if there are problems in the administration of the water supply, the crux of the matter lies in how these structures are implemented.
Now, if citizens are dealing with rationing problems caused by an inefficiently constructed infrastructure, why not let the private sector plan and build the supply networks? As for the success of this policy, only time will tell.
In any case, as is typical in Brazilian politics, actions are implemented with a view to short-term results. Meanwhile, citizens have to be content with hearing promise after promise...