Santos-Guaruja tunnel: new Sao Paulo gov’t wants work off the ground

A decade-long envisioned project, the dry connection between the cities of Santos and Guaruja, both on the coast of São Paulo, is a topic of contention between the State and Federal governments. The Secretary of State for the Environment, Infrastructure, and Logistics, Natália Resende, addressed the issue on the 20th when she announced reforms to the current system of ferries that cross between the two municipalities.

“We’re working on two projects simultaneously—the sponsored concession of the ferries (to a private initiative) and the tunnel concession. We have a well-developed study and an executive project that has already been tested by Dutch companies with know-how in these services,” she declared during a visit to Guarujá.

Natália explained that Governor Tarcísio de Freitas has already spoken with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Federal Government ministers on the subject and stressed that the State is open to dialogue.

“At the same meeting in which we approved the ferry project, we also authorized the tunnel. We are looking into issues of budget, legal, and economic modeling. One thing does not prevent the other. We can reconcile the two things. Having both of these structures with quality is best for their users.”

The proposal

While Minister of Infrastructure in the government of Jair Bolsonaro, Tarcísio de Freitas planned the construction of a tunnel that would connect the port margins between the Macuco region, in Santos, and Pae Cará, in the Vicente de Carvalho District, in Guarujá.

The tunnel’s construction would be made a mandatory condition of the privatization of the Santos Port Authority (SPA), which manages the Port of Santos, with an investment of R$ 3 billion. However, this year, the Minister of Ports and Airports, Márcio França, ruled out a complete concession of the Port Authority.

Now as the head of the State of Sao Paulo, Tarcísio holds talks with the Federal authorities to discuss costs, the budget, and the participation of each one in the project, which still does not have a date to get off the ground.

Recently, the Government of São Paulo began to seek private investors to make the tunnel construction feasible. França, in turn, guarantees that the solution for the tunnel can easily take off with resources from the Federal Government.

Source: A Tribuna

To read the original news article, please visit: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/tunel-santos-guaruja-governo-de-sp-estuda-solucao-para-obra-sair-do-papel

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