The amount is close to what is estimated to be spent on hosting the World Cup
Brasília – The government's delay in completing the infrastructure works included in the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) on time caused a loss of BRL 28 billion to society, just in a group of six projects analyzed by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI). The amount is close to what is estimated to be spent on hosting the World Cup.
The study seeks to measure the benefits that were no longer generated for the country just because of the delay. It takes into account, for example, what could have been agricultural production in the Northeast, if the transposition of the São Francisco had been completed within the period set by the government.
Or revenues from the export of ores and grains that no longer occur due to the delay in the construction of the West-East Integration Railroad (Fiol).
In all cases, the opportunity cost was also considered – the cost of public money invested in works that have not yet generated benefits.
“If the program should be ready in three years and it comes out in six, this reduces the overall productivity of the economy”, says the Director of Policies and Strategy at the CNI, José Augusto Coelho Fernandes.
He explains that the difficulty in managing megaprojects is not exclusive to Brazil. However, missed deadlines have practically become a rule, which deserves attention.
The CNI proposes that the next government, whichever it may be, intensify the infrastructure concession program. For Coelho, this is a field in which the economy can increase its productivity, since the labor and tax reforms will take time to come out and generate effects.
It also suggests initiatives to improve the quality of projects and to facilitate environmental licensing.
The study is part of a set of 43 proposal documents that will be delivered to presidential candidates in June, when the organization intends to hold a debate between the candidates and the industrialists.
The airport in Vitória, the main sewage project in Fortaleza (Bacia do Cocó), the transposition of the São Francisco, the Fiol, the duplication of the BR-101 in Santa Catarina and the transmission lines of the Madeira plants were analyzed. Most of the projects are still in progress.
Delay
Of the works selected, the one that caused the greatest damage was the transposition of the São Francisco. It was originally scheduled to end in June 2010 (East axis) and December 2012 (North axis).
As this did not happen, the study estimates how much was left to be produced by local agriculture, already considering a growth provided by the constant availability of water.
And he subtracted from the bill the cost of the energy that will no longer be generated by reducing the flow of water to the São Francisco Hydroelectric Company (Chesf).
CNI economists reached a total of BRL 11,7 billion from 2010 to 2015. To this was added BRL 5 billion referring to the opportunity cost of the money invested in the work, budgeted at BRL 8,2 billion. The history of the transposition follows the classic script of a delayed work in the country.
According to the study, it was started in 2005, based on a poorly detailed project from 2001 – which, evidently, was outdated. Several adjustments followed.
To move faster, it was divided into 14 subcontracts. But what in theory was going to speed up construction turned into a managerial nightmare. President Dilma Rousseff herself recognized that the government underestimated the complexity of the project.
The Ministry of National Integration states that the bid for the work, in 2007, passed through the scrutiny of the Federal Audit Court. The adjustments occur mainly because the channels, which reach 477 kilometers, pass through different types of terrain.
It was also necessary to negotiate with water and sewage concessionaires. According to the folder, the work will be completed in 2015. The information is from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo.
Source: The State of S. Paulo
By Lu Aiko Otta, from Estadão content
