Confea defends economic balance for universal sanitation
With seven years to go before the deadline for the universalization of water and sewage services, Confea (Federal Council of Engineering and Agronomy) assesses that a greater balance in the distribution of investments between regions and municipalities is fundamental to achieving the goals that were stipulated in the Legal Framework, in 2020.
In total, half of the deadline has already been completed, which raises doubts about the ability to achieve the goals set by 2033.
According to Confea's presidential advisor, Alexandre Borsato, investments in the sector need to be equalized and also reach locations that are not so economically interesting.
The speech took place during a CBIC (Brazilian Chamber of Construction Industry) event this Wednesday (20).
"We have an indicator that measures the per capita amount that the country needs to invest, each state needs to invest, in order to bring the results of the sanitation framework (...) we are talking about something around R$230 per person, per year. And this amount, there are some states where this amount is no more than R$10.00. So we have a very difficult time equalizing this", he commented.
Another worrying point, according to Borsato, is water loss in distribution. In Rio Grande do Sul, for example, around 40% of the water distributed is lost.
"When we look at water distribution, water losses in distribution, we realize that the state is equivalent to a national average (...) So, when we start to identify that in the last 15 years this index has not had any downward trend and a legal sanitation framework, in 2033, in 7 years, it determines that this average is 25%, that is, if today I am at 40% and it only increases, what is the perspective I have of reach 25% in 7 years", he noted.
According to him, if nothing is done differently, "the result will be exactly the same."
In addition, despite being fifth in the country's wealth generation ranking, the state collects only 34.7% of its sewage and treats around 25.4% of the volume generated.
Faced with low coverage, Aegea, which took over operations in 317 municipalities in the state after the privatization of the then State Government sanitation company, Corsan, is seeking to triple its current coverage to meet the universalization goals set out in the Sanitation Legal Framework.
In March, Confea launched a platform with Brazil's Infrastructure indices, based on data compiled on the 26 states and the Federal District.
For the entity's president, Vinicius Marchese, the country is behind when it comes to infrastructure, which, according to him, could generate problems in the "short future"
In sanitation, the country's overall score was 55.20; Among the states, the Federal District stood out in first place in the ranking, with 80.19; followed by Paraná (76.29) and Santa Catarina (73.85).
Among the states with the worst scores are Acre (11.28), Maranhão (18.85), Pernambuco (31.02), Bahia (39.74) and Pará (40.72).
Source: CNN