In São Sebastião, there is a lack of money even for medicines and transport, says mayor – 04/22/2023 – Panel SA

Two months after the tragedy that hit São Sebastião, on the coast of São Paulo, and left 64 dead in landslides caused by the rains, the mayor of the city, Felipe Augusto (PSDB), says that revenue has plummeted and the municipality has no resources to pay for medicines and services.

The complaint comes at a time when the city is trying to unblock the dispute against Ilhabela in court for royalties from oil exploration. “It’s the electricity bill that is overdue, the water bill, laboratories that provide services to the municipality and medicine suppliers”, says the mayor.

How is the city dealing with the problem of falling revenue after the tragedy? It has a huge problem. If we compare February 2023 with 2022, we had about a 60% drop in revenue. Our extended summer, which runs until Carnival, was happening. Merchants had full stocks and inns had 100% of reserves. There was a high forecast of high revenue, which is common for these high season months. Tourism is our most important economic matrix. The other matrix is ​​the oil and gas industry. São Sebastião has the largest waterway terminal in Latin America and the largest tankage in Brazil and accounts for more than 50% of national oil in four supply lines. In addition to the interruption of [duto] Osbat and the stoppage of tourism, add up to some peculiar situations. In the week of the tragedy, power and telephone poles fell. There were more than 35 kilometers of damage. It wasn’t just Vila Sahy.

And what is the relationship of this? From Saturday night to Sunday, without telephones and electricity, people didn’t have money in their pockets, so nobody could pay. People left bars, restaurants, hotels, inns and nightclubs without paying the bill. There was no way to receive it. People today deal with pix, with credit and debit cards. None of this worked for nearly a week. In addition to the loss of revenue due to the tragedy, which led to a stoppage of tourist and economic activities, we still had a week without telephone and power. They left at nightclubs, the cars were flooded, there was no way to pay the bill. That was the situation.

What is the size of impact? It’s gigantic. Sebrae speaks of more than R$ 50 million in losses due to the small and micro companies that stopped. Street trade, especially on the beach, which is a major driving force in the economy, has come to a halt. The beaches became dirty, with residue from the hill, land, many trees. Small-scale fishing in the municipality also stopped because there were trees and branches at the bottom of the sea tearing the nets. There are more than 100 kilometers of coastline.

And the donations? Donations were extremely welcome. The Brazilian people demonstrated their solidarity. But when shoes, shirts, pants, basic food baskets arrive, local businesses stop. The shoe store, clothing store, small market and bakery stop. Sufficient supply was provided for at least 90 days of consumption by residents who lost everything. And it is necessary, but the sale stops. And the number of private vehicles affected. In some streets, 60 cars left. For 10 or 15 days, insurance companies used storks to remove wrecked vehicles. People who depend on trade and vehicle work also lost out. The economy has been brought down to scale. This all causes a post-catastrophe effect. People lost everything, school supplies, supplies from health centers.

And the question of royalties? São Sebastião has the largest waterway terminal in Latin America. There are six ships that can dock simultaneously. It has the largest tank park and supplies the four largest refineries in the country. When we enter into this discussion with Ilhabela, for example, which has been going on for over 30 months, it’s not like R$ 1 billion appeared in the account overnight. You have royalty receivables that vary from month to month.

It turns out that due to a political decision, not an administrative one, the mayor of Ilhabela decides to sue São Sebastião, even though he knows that he no longer has the right to anything to try to recover. So, if you have R$1 billion in your account, Ilhabela has already received it. This money today is a tremendous need for us. These are resources that could be paying, for example, our expenses with medical transport.

There are patients who live in Barra do Sahy, Vila Sahy, Juqueí, and have to undergo hemodialysis in Caraguatatuba, which is the health reference point. Today, transport, I haven’t paid for nine months. I have not paid for the acquisition of medicines and hospital supplies for months. And now the crisis is getting worse. The municipality that was reputed to be rich is a municipality that suffers from these successive judicial blockades that turned this account into a gigantic one. The account exceeds R$ 900 million. There are more than 30 months of successive blockades.

Today, more than ever, the resource is greatly needed because we have compromised drainage, public roads and schools destroyed. This set of actions that harm São Sebastião, in addition to this catastrophe that left thousands of people homeless, ended up creating a situation in which the city hall, within a period of two months, is unable to fulfill any further commitments with the supplier, nor with the cost of the machine. It’s the electricity bill that’s overdue, the water bill, laboratories that provide services to the municipality, medicine suppliers. We are in the hope that justice will now be done. We are already in huge debt and essential services cannot stop.

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Elected in 2016 and 2020 to the City Hall of São Sebastião by the PSDB, Felipe Augusto was also an advisor in the City Hall of São Paulo and chief of staff in the state government. He ran for state deputy in 2010 and for mayor of São Sebastião in 2012. In the following years, he served as coordinator of institutional relations at Sebrae-SP and secretary of planning in Caraguatatuba.

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