AM in environmental crisis and city halls in the interior spend more than R$ 2.7 million on show fees

Manaus (AM) – Even in an emergency situation due to the strong drought that hits the state, city halls in the State of Amazonas have disbursed at least R$ 2.77 million in recent weeks to pay fees for singers and stars of ‘piseiro’ and forró.

The piseiro, according to analysis, is the favorite event of Amazonian mayors. Zé Vaqueiro,

In relation to the disclosed expenses, deputy Amom Mandel (citizenship) demonstrated outrage on social media,

“Really?! While we were seeking support from the federal government to deal with the fires and drought in Amazonas, mayors in the interior were planning parties. They spent more than R$2.77 million paying artist fees”,

declares the deputy.

“It seems like these mayors are in a parallel world. Did the population need this or basic inputs? We are facing the worst drought ever experienced in the last 100 years, more than 608 thousand Amazonians directly affected, and this is the measure taken?”,

complete Amon

On August 6, the rapporteur of Manacapuru’s accounts, councilor Mario de Mello, gave the mayor of Manacapuru, Beto D’Ângelo, a deadline of 48 hours to comment on the show contract of the singer “Zé Vaqueiro”, an attraction of the Manacapuru Agricultural Fair. The artist’s hiring is valued at R$490,000 and took place amid a public emergency caused by low rivers. The decision was published in the Official Electronic Gazette on August 5th.

Four days later, on the 10th, the Court of Auditors of the State of Amazonas (TCE-AM) approved the singer’s show at the “I Feira Agropecuária de Manacapuru” (Expomanacá 2023). According to the TCE-AM’s measure, the body rejects the request from the Public Ministry of Accounts (MPC) which requested the annulment of the signing of singer Zé Vaqueiro’s contract.

“On the final level of argument, I also believe it is important to consider that the I Expomanacá 2023 was already scheduled even before the emergency decree, by virtue of Decree No. 48,167/2023, so that its failure to take place as originally planned could cause losses to the municipality of Manacapuru”,

states an excerpt from the article.

In Tabatinga, the city hall will pay R$750,000 to two artists for shows at the IX Festisol, on October 30th. The biggest fee will go to Zé Vaqueiro, R$500 thousand, Márcia Felipe will receive R$250 thousand. The contracts were without bidding. Festisol takes place from October 27th to 30th at the Centro Cultural de Tabatinga

Contract No. 13/2023 refers to the hiring of the company “Zé Vaqueiro Original Ltda”, registered with CNPJ 39.415.957/0001-34, which was contracted for the amount of R$500 thousand reais.

In consultation with the Federal Revenue website, the company’s main economic activity is music production and its share capital is R$50,000.00 (Fifty thousand reais).

Zé Vaqueiro was also hired without bidding as an attraction for ExpoManacá, which started on August 11th for R$490,000. R$1.750 million will be paid to the five musical acts. All contracts were made without bidding.

In the municipality of Itacoatiara, Xand Avião and João Gomes received R$500,000 each from the city to play at ExpoFest 2023, one of the main events on the local calendar. With three days of celebration, the event features an agricultural exhibition, shows and choices from Rainha Expor Tech, Mister Itaexpofest and Musa da Diversidade 2023.

The Amazonas Court of Auditors (TCE-AM) accepted a precautionary measure against the City of Itacoatiara, led by Mayor Mário Abrahim (PSC), regarding artistic hiring for ExpoFest. According to the TCE, the attractions will cost the municipal public coffers R$2 million;

“The representative argues that the Municipality of Itacoatiara faces an extremely
adversity, that is, the municipality suffers from an unprecedented drought that significantly affects the lives of communities, in particular, those located along the Arari River and Costa do Amazonas, with more than 200 communities”.

According to the TCE, Expo Fest should cost R$4 million in total and it was not canceled by the public manager of Itacoatiara.

“Nevertheless, his presentation continues pointing out that the suspension of the ExpoFest event should be evaluated, which involves significant costs, estimated at almost R$2,000,000.00 (two million reais) just with the
hiring bands and a total amount of R$4,000,000.00 (four million reais) for the event as a whole, with exact values ​​unknown, as it claims that nothing was published in the municipalities’ official gazette.”

In principle, there is no illegality in hiring the shows, but the expenses occur at a time when cities need resources to combat the effects of the drought. All shows were contracted without bidding. The shows were contracted by the city councils of Tabatinga, Novo Aripuanã, Itacoatiara, Manacapuru and Nova Olinda do Norte, all of which have been in an emergency situation since September, according to the Civil Defense of Amazonas.

The celebrations and parties take place at the same time that the Federal Government agreed to spend R$627 million to remedy the effects of the drought. At least two of the city halls that contracted the shows already have federal money reserved to pay for civil defense actions, in the amount of R$1.9 million.

The municipality of Novo Aripuanã, 227 kilometers south of Manaus, with 26 thousand inhabitants on the banks of the Amazon River, was already in an emergency situation recognized by the Federal government through a decree on October 2nd of this year. Days later, on October 20, the Union pledged the amount of R$ 531.05 thousand to “civil protection and defense actions” for the benefit of the local city hall, led by Jocione Souza, from the PSDB.

However, at the end of August, the city was holding the 2023 edition of Festlendas. Artists George Japa were hired for R$47 thousand and Israel Novaes with a fee of R$238.6 thousand. As in Novo Apurianã, the emergency situation has also been recognized by the federal government in Tabatinga and Nova Olinda do Norte.

In the case of Nova Olinda do Norte, it was not possible to find out how much was invested in the 2023 Folk Festival shows, at the beginning of September, which has singer Mari Fernandes as a national attraction. On October 19, however, the Union pledged R$ 1,374,360.43 in favor of the municipality.

The Em Tempo reporting team tried to contact the city halls of the municipalities, but did not receive a response until the closing of this article. The information was taken from the Official Electronic Gazette and Estadão.

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