Health department has debts of R$ 118 million, says secretary.

Alagoas247 - The Secretary of State for Health, Rosângela Wyszomirska, stated, on the afternoon of this Thursday (14), during a press conference, that the department has around R$ 118 million in debts inherited from the administration of former governor Teotonio Vilela Filho (PSDB). In the interview, she said she did not want to blame anyone for the millionaire debt, however, she stressed that this amount may be even higher, since, daily, suppliers contact the competent department to report debts with Sesau. 

According to Rosângela, Sesau has been seeking, 'through dialogue', to reach an agreement with all suppliers. However, she explained, the process 'requires time and patience', since the debt assessment is still being carried out. This week alone, business owners who claim to be owed money by the department have blocked Avenida da Paz three times. 

“It is not up to Sesau to prejudge whether there are irregularities in payment processes. Nor can we point out what happened. What we can say is that this is our financial situation. We will take each contract and negotiate one by one, seeking a larger discount so that we can keep our units supplied,” explained the secretary, adding that, today, the payment of the R$ 118 million is 'impossible'. 

Despite the recorded drop in federal funding, the secretary assured that, starting next week, suppliers will be informed of the department's financial situation. She also explained that the Health Department has been working to pay off some of its debts, having already partially resolved some outstanding issues. 

"I appeal to everyone's common sense, because the greatest good is people's lives. Let's talk to each one of you. We understand the situation and we don't want any businesses to close. Today, the department wouldn't have the resources to pay everything off at once." 

On that occasion, the secretary also stated that, as soon as the new administration took office, Sesau forwarded approximately six thousand payment processes to the State Comptroller General's Office (CGE) for an audit, but, so far, five months after the start of the current administration, only one thousand have returned to the department. According to Sesau, these processes total approximately R$ 31 million.

PROTEST

In the early afternoon of this Thursday (14), once again, suppliers of the State Health Secretariat (Sesau) blocked a section of Avenida da Paz. The workers question the lack ofpayment on the part of the agency.

According to information from one of the suppliers, who preferred not to be identified, "there are documents that should have been paid at the beginning of the year and even the time "The commitment was not honored by the secretariat."

With gazetaweb.com