The new Minister of Transport, Antonio Carlos Rodrigues, took office yesterday, speaking of continuity in the management of the portfolio, which is commanded by his party, the PR, since the first government of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in 2003. familiarity with the sector, the minister avoided the press and praised the political allies present, especially the president of the PR, senator Alfredo Nascimento, who was dismissed from the Ministry of Transport in July 2011 on suspicion of overbilling for works.
The passages through the Municipal Urban Transport Company (EMTU) and the São Paulo Metro were mentioned by ACR – as the minister is known – to justify his experience in the area. He also said he dealt with “various matters related to the transport sector” during the two-year period in which he replaced Marta Suplicy in the Senate, since he was the first alternate for the PT, who occupied the Ministry of Culture between October 2012 and November last year.
In his speech, he pledged to continue the federal road and rail concession program and to take Brazilian logistics “to a new level”. The minister, however, avoided answering any questions about his plans ahead of the portfolio. At the end of the inauguration ceremony, he was approached by journalists, but his adviser said that the minister would make a statement and would not answer questions. In the brief speech, he only said that his work would be “of continuity” and that his motto “is work”.
ACR has also not announced the names of its team. He said that he has not yet defined who will be his executive secretary, but he added that he will appoint technicians to head the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (Dnit) and Valec. The two bodies are the ministry's main investment arms.
The fate of former minister Paulo Passos is also unknown. There is a possibility that he will assume command of the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT), but there is no confirmation. In his farewell speech, he highlighted the accomplishments of his administration, especially the concessions program.
Before officially assuming the position, ACR already participated in some meetings with the new team. Today, he will attend a presentation by the Planning Company (EPL), created in 2012 to develop logistics projects such as, for example, the bullet train.
One of the main challenges for the new minister is to unlock the railway version of the concessions package. With a model considered complex by the private sector, the program has yet to get off the ground. Only one stretch was approved by the Federal Audit Court (TCU) and the expectation is that it will be put out to tender this year.
Before delving into the affairs of the portfolio, the new Minister of Transport made a point of honoring his political godfathers. In his inauguration speech, he emphasized the “sacrifice” of Alfredo Nascimento, who left the Senate to run for a federal deputy seat last year with the mission of increasing the PR bench in the Chamber of Deputies.
Source: Valor Econômico
By: Murillo Camarotto, Daniel Rittner and Rafael Bitencourt
