Bolsonaro approves sanitation framework, undermining agreement and jeopardizing state-owned companies.
In the peculiar style of his government, which involves dismantling all national public assets, President Bolsonaro sanctioned on Wednesday (the 15th) Bill 4261, which establishes a new regulatory framework for sanitation.
By signing the new legislation, he betrayed an agreement made by the government with the Senate and the governors, and issued several vetoes, most notably the one that validated the program contracts and allowed their renewal until 2022. These vetoes seriously jeopardize the immediate survival of state-owned companies.
Among the vetoes made by Bolsonaro, the most significant is that of Article 16, which allowed current and expired program contracts to be renewed for up to 30 years, until March 31, 2022, prohibiting new contracts outside of these two situations. Allowing this renewal, vital to keeping sanitation companies afloat, was the point that led to an agreement "stitched together" between the government, senators, and several governors, especially from the Northeast. Governor Rui Costa was one of the central figures in these negotiations.
Bolsonaro disregarded the demonstration held by 16 governors in defense of state-owned companies the day before signing the law. He is continuing a destructive agenda for the Brazilian state, handing over national wealth to large national and international capital, following the script of the Minister of Economy, the banker Paulo Guedes. This sell-off has encompassed the energy, oil, mineral resources, aviation, environment, and many other sectors, and now it even reaches water, which is essential to life. Brazil is the largest holder of fresh water in the world, hence the greed of speculators to plunder this wealth that belongs to the Brazilian people.
Bolsonaro's betrayal comes as no surprise, especially to the working class, which has been constantly attacked, whether by labor reform and more and more cuts to rights, in addition to pension reform, as well as a policy that has led the country to unemployment and a severe recession.
Even without Bolsonaro's vetoes, Bill 4162 was already proving detrimental to basic sanitation, and that's why we resisted it for a long time since it appeared in the National Congress, in the form of provisional measures, which we defeated. The bill was already favored by the private sector, by large multinational corporations, and even became known as the "Coca-Cola Bill," because it was reported by Senator Tasso Jeressaiti (PSDB-CE), who is one of the partners of that company in Brazil. It is an industry that has water as its basis for production and wealth.
It is a fact that there will be several lawsuits challenging the new sanitation framework. It is, first and foremost, unconstitutional, as it violates the autonomy and powers of states and municipalities, rights that are guaranteed in the Federal Constitution.
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