Lula plans to expand positions at Codevasf to accommodate grassroots parties

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is evaluating the creation of new superintendencies of Codevasf, the Development Company of the São Francisco and Parnaíba Valleys, in the states of Pernambuco and Minas Gerais to accommodate nominees by the parties that are part of the base ally.

The company’s new configuration is part of an articulation movement to try to unite the base and get votes in favor of projects of interest to the government, mainly the new fiscal framework, expected to be analyzed next week in the Chamber of Deputies, and later for the tax reform by the end of the semester.

The accommodation in positions adds to the voluminous distribution of parliamentary amendments, which in May alone already totaled R$ 1.4 billion according to the Senate Amendments Execution Panel.

Codevasf’s new superintendencies should be created in Belo Horizonte and Recife, where the company already has regional offices, according to a survey by Folha de São Paulo confirmed by the People’s Gazette.

“Currently, Codevasf is evaluating the creation of regional superintendencies in Recife and Belo Horizonte, cities in which it already has Representative Offices. The measure seeks to optimize the execution of the company’s actions in the states of Pernambuco and Minas Gerais”, said the company in a note to the report, also stating that “at the moment there are no cost estimates or definition of positions”.

Codevasf currently has 14 regional offices and a control and operation center in the city of Salgueiro in Pernambuco. The company is one of the most coveted by allies for having one of the largest government budgets: R$ 2.27 billion this year according to the Transparency Portal (see here) of the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU).

Codevasf houses nominees from allied parties

For years, Codevasf has been used to accommodate nominees from allied parties, such as engineer Marcelo Moreira in the presidency of the state-owned company, for União Brasil, and Marcelo Vaz Castro in the superintendence in Piauí, son of the rapporteur for the 2023 Budget in the Senate, Marcelo Castro (MDB -PI).

The state-owned company was created in 1974 to develop irrigation projects in the Brazilian semi-arid region, taking advantage of the potential of the São Francisco River basin. Over the years, it also began to cover areas of the Parnaíba River, which led to an increase in the budget.

“It should be noted that Codevasf’s area of ​​operation in Pernambuco was expanded between 2017 and 2020, by laws approved by the National Congress, from 69 municipalities to 185 municipalities. In the same period, the Company’s operations in Minas Gerais were expanded from 239 to 343 municipalities”, completes the company.

Last year, Codevasf was the target of an operation by the Federal Police that investigated a group suspected of fraud in bids, embezzlement of public resources and money laundering involving federal funds from the state-owned company. Sixteen search and seizure warrants were carried out in cities in Maranhão, with the seizure of luxury products and cash from some of those investigated.

Already at the beginning of this year, Codevasf returned to the headlines for the alleged formation of a cartel in millionaire contracts for the implementation of asphalt paving carried out in 2022. The government denied the accusations at the state-owned company and said that it was reviewing the hiring left by the previous government.