Santos Port companies defend tunnel between Santos and Guarujá

On Thursday, September 24^th, port-sector companies launched a movement called “Vou de Túnel (I’m taking the tunnel)”,  with the purpose of defending the construction of a tunnel linking Santos with Guarujá.  It’s a controversial subject because the federal government and the Port of Santos are pushing for a tunnel whereas the state of São Paulo and the concessionaire EcoRodavias are defending the construction of a bridge.

Among the companies that created the “Vou de túnel!” campaign, Brasil Terminal Portuário (BTP ), a container terminal, is one of the companies that would be most negatively affected by the bridge.  Also pushing for a tunnel between Santos and Guarujá are Boskalis, Van Oord, the Brazilian Association of Container Terminals (ABRATEC), and others.

Casemiro Tércio Carvalho, ex-president of Santos Port Authority (SPA) and defender of the tunnel, explained that the group proposes either to build the R$ 3.5 billion tunnel through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), or that it be included in the privatization of the Port of Santos, as an obligation for the new port operator to fulfill. The construction of the project itself would cost R$ 2.5 billion, but an additional R$ 1 billion is budgeted to work on the avenues surrounding Santos and Guarujá.

State vs. Federal government

The dispute began last year when the São Paulo government proposed the construction of a bridge between the cities, which would be built by EcoRodovias. The idea would be to include the work within the company’s road concession, which, in return, would gain an extension on the contract for the operation of the Anchieta-Imigrantes system.

However, the project did not find favor with port operators or the federal government, responsible for the administration of the Santos pier. Their assessment is that the work would hinder the transit of ships and create restrictions on future pier expansions.

The São Paulo government even held public hearings on the subject, but, faced with the controversy, the project was stopped. In recent weeks, EcoRodovias delivered a new version of the project to the São Paulo government, with adaptations to try to resolve complaints made by port terminals. For example, the space between the bridge’s columns was increased. However, there have been no conversations between the São Paulo and federal governments on the subject.

Source: Valor Econômico

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