Sabesp leaves association that supported new sanitation milestone – 06/04/2023 – Market

Sabesp announced this Thursday (6) its disaffiliation from Aesbe (Brazilian Association of State Sanitation Companies), an entity of which it is one of the founders, after the association defended the changes promoted by the government in the legal framework for sanitation.

In a note, the company says that the entity’s recent positions “are not consistent with the progress of sanitation in Brazil, where around 100 million people do not have sewage collection and 35 million do not have access to treated water”.

Aesbe supported the review process of the framework approved in 2020, which culminated in the signing, this Wednesday (5), of decrees that facilitate the performance of state-owned companies in the sector, releasing the direct contracting of services by municipalities, for example.

In an interview on Wednesday, the president of Aesbe, Neuri Freitas, praised the decree. “It goes towards making it more flexible, having a wider range of possibilities to invest in the sector, without restricting anyone, private or public”, she evaluated.

Sabesp says that “it values ​​​​efficiency and governance to provide investments in sanitation, whether private or public, and believes that Aesbe’s vision, aligned with political instruments, goes against the necessary legal certainty for the sector”.

The company points out that it is responsible for one third of the entire volume of resources invested in sanitation in the country, with a budget of R$ 26.2 billion for the next five years. Sabesp has contracts with 375 municipalities in São Paulo, serving around 28 million customers.

The company was pointed out as a strong candidate for concession auctions in the sector after the approval of the new framework, but ended up not winning any dispute. It preferred to focus its growth strategy on São Paulo, taking advantage of a loophole in the law that allowed the signing of contracts without auctions.

The idea was to negotiate with São Paulo City Halls the formation of special purpose companies controlled by the municipalities to take over concessions for water supply and sewage treatment.

Currently, the company is the target of a privatization project by the Tarcísio Freitas government, which wants a concession model that mixes characteristics of privatization of Eletrobras with the onerous assignment of Petrobras, with financial gains shared with the cities.

In addition to criticism from the private sector, the decrees that make the framework more flexible are questioned by the mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL). he said to Sheet that the changes generate setbacks and need to be made by the Legislature.

Lira’s allies are already preparing a proposal to try to overturn part of Lula’s actions. The argument must be that the PT used the decrees to create rules that should be approved by Congress.

“I defend the revision of the law. The law left many loopholes for abuse in the states. And the decree brings setbacks that need to be evaluated”, declared the president of the Chamber.