Chamber and TCM ask Nunes to fight for the capital at Sabesp – 12/19/2023 – Panel

The São Paulo City Council and the Municipal Audit Court have pressured the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), to adopt a more incisive stance in the negotiations regarding the privatization of Sabesp with Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos-SP).

Nunes has publicly spoken out in favor of privatization and signed, in August, the city’s accession to one of the so-called Regional Water Supply and Sewage Units (Uraes). The state government intends to use Uraes to negotiate privatized Sabesp contracts as a block, and not city by city, weakening the bargaining power of each municipality.

The emedebista’s stance practically sealed Tarcísio’s support for his campaign for re-election in 2024, but raised the alarm in the Chamber and in the TCM that the city could lose resources and influence in Sabesp if the negotiation is carried out without due discussion.

This Monday (18), in a meeting with Nunes at the TCM headquarters, the president of the Legislature, Milton Leite (União Brasil), and court advisors emphasized the need for the Executive to take a position so that the city receives a share of the resources that is proportional to its share in Sabesp’s revenue (45%).

They also asked the mayor to coordinate so that the capital guarantees future participation in the company’s investment decisions, given that it is its biggest client.

TCM set up a working group on the privatization of Sabesp and has sent questions to the city hall about the process, especially in relation to the amounts involved.

The City Council also set up a working group, and Leite has talked about including future expenses for the recovery of the Billings and Guarapiranga dams, allegedly polluted by failures in Sabesp’s sanitation services, in the privatization process.

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