Federal Court suspends expansion of the Port of Salvador

On Wednesday (16), the Federal Court ordered the suspension of the works of expansion of the Container Terminal of the Port of Salvador (Tecon). The project’s investment is of R$715m, as foreseen in the Union’s Partnership and Investment Program.

The injunction of Judge Ávio Mozar de Novaes (12th Federal Court-BA) complied with a request from the Federal Public Prosecution Service (MPF) to annul the effects of an addendum that extended Tecon’s concession in advance, in 2016, for another 25 years. Responsible for the venture, the Wilson Sons group can appeal.

The judge describes elements “sufficient” to point out illegality in the resolution of the National Agency for Water Transport, which approved an extension of the concession term. For the MPF, there must be a new bid.

With the deal, the Wilson Sons Group expanded the total leased area at the port from 44,300 m² to 216,500 m² and the final concession value went from R$37.6m to R$12.8b. For the judge, “technical, operational, or economic infeasibility of bidding for new lease” was not proven. According to the injunction, the non-suspension of the contract may result in “irreversibility of the expansion works of the Salvador Terminal port facilities”.

In the process, Tecon claimed “massive expenses” with the extension, which would bring economic damage. For the judge, however, the claim has not been proved: documents show that expenses already incurred were “reduced values ​​when compared with the value of proposed investments and the overall amount of the contract”.

The works in the port are steeped in legal impasse. In 2017 (April), a federal judge suspended the intervention. A year later, the group Wilson Sons managed to overturn the decision. In 2017, the MPF filed a public civil action that culminated in this Wednesday’s injunction, alleging that the extension was based on “outdated and not exempt” studies, with opinions and technical notes in favor of Tecon. In May, another injunction halted the work: a lawsuit called for suspension of the project and revocation of the municipal license, alleging suspicion for the license granted in “record time”.

The action also pointed out that the company did not do a Neighborhood Impact Study (EIV) and that the project did not meet the Coastal Management Plan.

Embargo

In March of this year, the Municipal Secretariat of Development and Urbanism (Sedur) embargoed the work due to lack of urban license to start the work. After delivering the necessary documents to the city, the company was allowed to continue – until Wednesday (10/16).

With the expansion, the expectation is that the soteropolitan Container Terminal will be the largest in the Northeast. In 2018, 203,979 containers were handled. With the expansion, the capacity should reach 715,000 annually. In the first phase of investments, the berth of the ships would be extended from 377 meters to 800 meters.

Source: A Tarde

Sharing is caring!