Santos mayor wants representatives from elect-government participating in the Port of Santos privatization

The mayor of Santos, Rogério Santos, argues that representatives of the president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should take part in the privatization process of the Santos Port Authority (SPA), whose auction is scheduled for December. According to the local head of the executive, everything must unfold in accordance with the new Federal Government.

Furthermore, he advocates for greater participation of local municipalities on the Port Authority Board. The mayor contends that local City Halls have the right to play a deliberative, rather than merely consultative, role, even if it means delaying the privatization process a few steps.

“If there is a change in government, the privatization of SPA occurs in alignment with the new government’s proposals. This is a critical strategic issue for Brazil, and I do not believe acting irresponsibly during the transitional government is appropriate. It will be necessary to review the process, but now with the participation of municipalities from the start, which did not occur before,” Rogério said.

Mayor Santos was in Brasilia on Monday, October 31, to attend the event “Public Dialogue on the Privatization of the Port of Santos,” promoted by the federal audit court TCU. Representatives of the Ministry of Infrastructure (Minfra), the National Agency for Waterway Transportation (Antaq), SPA, maritime navigation companies, and port terminal associations were at the debate.

The Port of Santos is Brazil’s largest, and therefore, it plays an important role in its foreign exchange and international projection. Please find below a chart comparing the most imported products, in terms of TEUs, that arrived at the Port of Santos in 2021 (full year) and 2021 (Jan – Sep). The data is from DataLiner.

Top imports – Port of Santos | Jan 2021 – Dec 2021 vs. Jan 2022 – Sep 2022 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Reactive participation

Rogério claims that, in over three years of the privatization process, he only took part in the discussion for about ten months, his first intervention happening on December 23, 2021. “By the way, I wasn’t asked to participate in bringing contributions; I was reacting to what had already been wronged. We [mayors] did not participate in the development of the process, so it needs to be better matured, in my opinion, especially since we are in a period of government transition.”

The mayor also complains that the construction of a tunnel between the East and Northwest zones isn’t included in the privatization project. “I also spoke about the issue of the new Passenger Terminal in Valongo. It is impossible to think about privatization without knowing that his asset is guaranteed,” he says.

The mayor says that the president of the TCU, Minister Bruno Dantas, was “very proactive” regarding his demands. “He gave a lot of importance to the City Hall’s claims, especially regarding the governance of the Port Authority Board and the investments that must be made.”

In his speech at the end of the event, Dantas commented that Rogério’s participation was very solid. “The TCU has tried to be as open to participation as possible, responding to demands that come to us, such as the mayor of Santos, with a legitimate, absolutely natural consideration. It is encouraging to see that various players in this process recognize the TCU as a qualified interlocutor capable of assisting in the improvement of projects.”

Dantas, the rapporteur of the process of privatization of Porto in the audit court, reinforced that other parties may still submit documents alluding to the privatization process until next Sunday, but it can be extended. “Some issues are still pending, which may delay the process. However, I hope the government will make every effort to resolve the pending issues as soon as possible.”

Source: A Tribuna

To read the full original article, please go to: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/participacao-da-equipe-de-lula-na-desestatizacao-do-porto-de-santos-e-defendida-por-rogerio-santos-

Sharing is caring!