After the cancellation in June, the federal government is preparing to launch this month the new public notice for the withdrawal of the so-called Pedral do Lourenço to guarantee the navigability of the Tocantins River (PA) – between the municipalities of Marabá and Tucuruí – during all months of the year .
Currently, the Tocantins River is used for only eight months to transport, for example, grain. The soap opera around this work has been dragging on since 2010. In 2011, it was removed from the list of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC).
The National Department of Transport Infrastructure (Dnit) reported that the public notice should be published later this month for hiring a company to prepare the basic and executive projects, environmental actions and execution of the demolition works for the implementation of the Navigation in the Pedrais region. The forecast, according to Senator Flexa Ribeiro (PSDB-PA), is that it will be out by the 15th.
“The removal of Pedral do Lourenço is a supra-partisan work. We demand the demolition to make the [Tocantins-Araguaia] waterway viable, which will help not only in the flow of products but also in the internalization of inputs at a cheaper cost”, highlighted the senator.
After the inauguration of the Tucuruí locks, the Araguaia-Tocantins Waterway depends on the demolition of Pedral de Lourenço to be fully utilized, which would also enable the installation of a steel complex in the municipality of Marabá in Pará. Vale, for example, would implement the Aços Laminados do Pará (Alpa) project. For the time being, according to the company, “the project implementation schedule is under review, awaiting a solution to the region's logistics infrastructure issue involving, among others, the construction of the waterway, which includes demolition, beaconing, signaling and dredging. of the Tocantins River. According to Vale, the waterway is “important not only for Marabá, but for the whole of Pará, as it will expand the region's logistical conditions, contributing to the development of the State”.
The destruction of Pedral de Lourenço became part of the PAC in the government of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In 2011, however, the project was removed from the Executive's list of priorities. In March of this year, after carrying out several feasibility studies carried out by universities and the private sector, President Dilma Rousseff announced, in Pará, the launch of the public notice for the work considered a priority for reducing transport costs and interconnecting the country's modes.
The undertaking would be bid through the Differentiated Contracting Regime (RDC). According to the schedule of the Ministry of Transport, the completion of the works was scheduled for 2018. "The cost of transport by waterway is much cheaper, it is 50% cheaper than a highway", said President Dilma during the ceremony to launch the public notice .
But the celebration in the state of Pará was short-lived. In June, the notice was canceled so that the rules could be adjusted to the requirements made by the Federal Court of Accounts. The TCU determined that the lowest price criterion should be adopted instead of “technique and price”.
The demolition is the removal or destruction of submerged stones and rocks. With a length of 43 kilometers, the removal of Pedral do Lourenço will contribute to the improvement of flow conditions through the Tocantins waterway of all mineral, agricultural and livestock production destined for the port and terminals located in Vila do Conde (PA) and in the lower Amazon. With this, the government expects a reduction in the cost of transport and an increase in the competitiveness of Brazilian products abroad, with integration into rail and road modes.
In the government's assessment, the work will guarantee continuous traffic of ships and convoys, in a stretch of approximately 500 kilometers. In addition, it will contribute to unburdening ports such as Santos (SP) and Paranaguá (PR).
Source: Valor Econômico
By Edna Simão | From Brasilia
