Rádio Gaúcha Zero Hora: Unfinished schools: how can the problem be avoided?

Lisiane has twins Maurício and Murilo (10 months old) and also takes care of five other children in their fifth year of age. All would be potential clients of the unfinished day care centre in Gravataí. André Ávila/Agencia RBS.

To mark World News Day on September 28, 2022, the World News Day campaign is sharing stories that have had a significant social impact. This particular story, which was shared by Rádio Gaúcha Zero Hora (Brazil), was published on June 24, 2022.

Transparência Brasil carried out a study on abandoned Ministry of Education works and concluded that there were many failures in the Proinfância program.

In addition to the audit by the Federal Audit Court (TCU), Transparência Brasil carried out a study on abandoned Ministry of Education (MEC) construction works and concluded that there were many failures in the Proinfância program. 

— Some companies won bids without being able to deliver the works. There was a delay in transfers from the federal government, lack of control, as many works were left with funds withheld for years. Municipalities used money from daycare centers for other purposes and the federal government never recovered the amounts. The FNDE failed to make basic demands, such as the ownership of the land by the municipalities — says Juliana Sakai, director of operations at the entity.

The assessment is shared by another non-governmental organization, Observatório Social do Brasil, which carried out a sampling inspection. The entity monitored 135 daycare works in 21 Brazilian municipalities. Only one was completed on time, notes Ney Ribas, president of the entity. 

— There was a lack of control by the federal government, by the FNDE. And, locally, many municipalities failed to properly use the funds received. Either because they didn’t present projects, or because they weren’t efficient in the execution of the work — notes Ribas. 

— In the case of MVC, the biggest problem was the company’s low financial capacity. It had to make large investments before receiving the federal resource and also faced a lag in the amounts budgeted by the FNDE, in addition to possible delays in transfers. There was also difficulty in hiring local labor — adds Keyla Boaventura, from the TCU Secretariat for Urban Infrastructure. 

And what can be done now and in future bids like this? 

One of the steps recommended by the experts heard is to carry out bids in which companies prove that they really have the capacity to invest. Another is to establish a permanent inspection of the work, from the first piece of concrete laid. Notifying municipalities so that they demand compliance of the company and suspend payment in the first stoppage should also have been done – that is, the work between the federal government and municipalities could be in better harmony. 

Experts also mention that avoiding early payments is ideal. Finally, the recommendation is that funding bodies use technical criteria, and do not prioritize granting political advantages to ideological allies when choosing companies. 

Rádio Gaúcha Zero Hora: Unfinished daycare centers: what families who have nowhere to leave their children have to say

Without the Curumim Street crèche, Marilene Moretto looks after her grandson Matheus. André Ávila/Agencia RBS.

To mark World News Day on September 28, 2022, the World News Day campaign is sharing stories that have had a significant social impact. This particular story, which was shared by Rádio Gaúcha Zero Hora (Brazil), was published on June 24, 2022.

Just over half of the 1,800 daycare centers provided for in the federal government’s Proinfância program in Rio Grande do Sul were completed after 10 years.

Ten years later, just over half of the 1,800 daycare centers provided for in the federal government’s Proinfância program in Rio Grande do Sul were completed. While city administrations try to finish the works, the Ministry of Education announced it will prioritize new, not yet started projects.

The RBS Research Group visited eight unfinished schools, in the Metropolitan Area and on the North Coast. These summarize the dilemma faced by thousands of people who put off the dream of working outside the home because they have no one to leave their children with, even though they saw daycare centers being built – and then abandoned. Here are a few reports on the matter:

The municipality of the Metropolitan Area has one of the worst scenarios. Four architectural skeletons were abandoned between 2013 and 2015. The worst case is in Rincão da Madalena, where a school had just started its foundations, 7% of the work. Two others, in Loteamento Porto Seguro and in Morada do Vale III, reached half of the building works. Over time, weeds grew between rooms, tiles and window frames were stolen, buildings became homes for the homeless and the walls are covered in graffiti. 

GZH located six of the children who could have enjoyed the daycare on Rua Aliança, in the Morada do Vale III neighborhood. Today they babysat by pedagogue Lisiane Fraga Trindade, as their parents have to work. The daycare was stuck at 52.8% of what was promised. The government transferred BRL 135,000, of the BRL 788,000 agreed. 

Lisiane has twins Maurício and Murilo (10 months old) and also takes care of Laura Souza, Eduarda Magno, Gabrielli Oliveira Ribeiro, Eloá Costa, and Bryan Costa Nascimento – all in five-year-old range. All were potential daycare customers. Today they use the abandoned work site to play hide and seek. 

– It became an animal dwelling. Even a dead dog was removed from there. There are also homeless people there,” says Lisiane. 

Bryan, five years old, was always taken care of by his grandparents, Solange, and Luís Alberto Pons Nascimento. He should have taken advantage of the daycare on Rua Aliança. He lives in the house just opposite the site. Now, he and other children have found a place in the adjoining room of a nearby school, improvised in place of the day care center. 

The same drama echoes on Rua Curumim, in Loteamento Porto Seguro. Homemaker Marilene Moretto takes care of her 18-month-old grandson Matheus, while his parents work. He has been on the waiting list for a neighborhood daycare since December. The daycare center construction started in the neighborhood by developers MVC had 54.1% of the construction carried out. It was budgeted at BRL 1.5 million, and the National Education Development Fund (FNDE) transferred only BRL 481,000. The works came to a halt in 2015. 

— The abandoned building turned into a dump site. A shame. In the meantime, the boy has no one to stay with — says Marilene. 

At least one of the interrupted MVC-developed schools was resumed in Gravataí. It is the day care center in the Morada do Vale II neighborhood, which is 90% built. The deadline for completion is six months. The FNDE even transferred BRL 1.3 million, out of the BRL 1.4 million forecast. Now the city administration will top up the necessary funds out of its own coffers. 

The municipality of Gravataí also informs that it is studying the possibility of resuming the other abandoned daycare centers using a new constructive methodology, already used in other units. They are modular classrooms with structures in white concrete with fiberglass – which improves temperature and acoustics. 

Guaíba

Guaíba had two daycare centers designed by MVC. Both were abandoned when about half of the work was built, more than eight years ago. One is in the Columbia subdivision. The other, in the Pedras Brancas neighborhood, two densely populated lower-middle-class areas. Both were budgeted at BRL 1.4 million each. The federal government transferred BRL 753,000 to each of them. The first reached 53% of the promised construction, the other was 56.4% finished. 

Children who would benefit from the day care center in the Colúmbia subdivision, such as four-year-old Vicente Boeira, and his 11-year-old brother Miguel, are now babysat by their grandparents. Retiree Flávio Boeira recalls how the neighborhood’s mothers were filled with hope in the past decade, when the 250-capacity daycare center was announced. 

“It was all great on paper. Workers were suddenly gone,” says Bernadette, a grandmother who spends the day with the children. 

Osório

For a long time, saleswoman Valéria Machado Delfino, a resident of Osório, had no one to babysit her six-year-old son Bernardo. She would sometimes leave him with her mother Jucélia. Or with a babysitter, “even though I cannot afford it,” summarizes the salesperson. 

Bernardo would only set foot in a daycare center when he was four years old. Before that, he spent time playing on the plot of land of what should have been a Proinfância daycare in the Medianeira neighborhood. The daycare started to be built in March 2014. It was interrupted in January 2015, with 37.05% of the work completed. Since then, it has become a place for children to play and a home for the homeless. 

The FNDE reports having transferred BRL 752,000 of the BRL 1.5 million agreed with the Osório Administration, which claims to have returned BRL 303,000 to the Federal Government, after MVC abandoned the work. Due to the degradation of the building, thefts and depredations, the city government tried to change the methodology to the conventional use of bricks. This became unfeasible, because the concrete base of the MVC school was designed for fiberglass and not for masonry, explains Osório’s Secretary of Education, Dilson Maciel. The weight would be too much, and the additional cost would not be worth it. 

The decision was to demolish what was left of the fiber walls. The city government filed a lawsuit to try to obtain compensation, to be paid by the construction company. 

Cidreira

The ground of what should have been one of the main daycare centers in Cidreira, on the North Coast, became a city square. Tired of waiting for a building that was never built, the residents of Vila Nazaré took part of the material abandoned by the construction company MVC to transform into a playground. The fiberglass slats gave rise to swings, some became trash cans and flower boxes. 

The FNDE transferred BRL 428,000 to the Cidreira Administration for the construction of the school, which represents more than half of the BRL 790,000 planned for the work. But the construction stopped at 9% of the total agreed. The city administration is thinking about building another day care center, but without taking advantage of the structure left by MVC. 

— The base became rusted. And what was left of the work, on the surface, was stolen — confirms Osório’s Secretary of Education, Mercedes Giroleti. 

Construction worker Igor Pereló de Fraga was also impacted. The daycare would take in his nine-year-old daughter Maria. But it stopped being built when it was still just on the floor level. 

— One day, workers simply left and never came back. And Maria was left without daycare. She even cut her foot when she bumped into one of those fiber and plastic structures they have left behind. Then she was taken care of by my wife, without having anywhere to study when she was little. As everything was abandoned, the people turned it into a square — described Igor. 

Secretary Mercedes says that the city administration wants to resume the work. It just does not know for how much money and when. 

Terra de Areia

Obscene graffiti, used condoms, snakes… The premises of the Parque Aliança Early Childhood Education School, close to the central area of Terra de Areia, have a little bit of everything. Except students. It has never opened. Construction stopped when it reached 34.48% of the forecast in 2014. Since then, the floor and walls have remained, which are being depredated more and more every day. 

— Unfortunately, it became a point of trafficking, prostitution, and a target of depredation. It is a shame. Who are we going to hold responsible for this? — asks businessowner Janete Cardoso Eberhardt. 

Janete lives half a block away from the abandoned school and has three children who could have gone to the daycare center: Laura, 12, Gustavo, 9, and Luísa, 6. She and the children’s father, Sérgio Eberhardt, had to take their children to rooms rented by the city administration, in a more distant location. 

A similar situation occurred with the employee of a funeral home, Juliana Cruz da Silveira. Only a little worse. With nowhere to leave her eight-year-old daughter Iara, when she was young, Juliana had to stop working. She could only return to work a short time ago. 

The FNDE says it transferred BRL 395,000 of the BRL 790,000 planned for the work. The city government filed a lawsuit against the construction company, and, in the absence of day care centers, rooms were rented around the city to house the children. 

Três Cachoeiras

Two babysitters, a veteran and a novice, take turns at the home of businessowner Tiago Borges and his wife, physical therapist Rosana Mengue Borges. That is because daycare centers in the coastal city of Três Cachoeiras are insufficient. In the absence of anyone to leave their 18-month-old son Vicente with, the couple has to pay for babysitters. 

They live 20 meters from an abandoned structure that should have become a daycare, built by MVC. The work began in 2014 and should have been completed the following year. Vicente was still just a project in his parents’ minds, but they were already counting on using the center as soon as he was born. They and hundreds of other Três Cachoeiras residents. 

— However, in the middle of the last decade, the work mysteriously stopped. We even thought it would restart, with construction material piled up on the concrete floor. Vicente was born, he is of daycare age, but there is no sign of a center there — says Borges. 

The FNDE transferred BRL 395,000 of the BRL 790,000 planned for the work. The contractor made 40.4% of what was agreed and quit. Today, only the floor is usable, describes mayor Flávio Lipert. The fiber part was removed by the city workers and left on the ground. 

— The city administration filed a lawsuit against the company. Until a sentence is issued, the FNDE is not willing to transfer new funds. Our only solution is building a new daycare with our own funds – complains Lipert.

Rádio Gaúcha Zero Hora: Lawsuits over unfinished schools filed in nine states

Structure of several construction sites cannot be reused with common masonry. In the photo, what was left of the construction in Morada do Vale III, in Gravataí. André Ávila/Agencia RBS

To mark World News Day on September 28, 2022, the World News Day campaign is sharing stories that have had a significant social impact. This particular story, which was shared by Rádio Gaúcha Zero Hora (Brazil), was published on June 24, 2022.

In total, there are 9,700 projects that were not completed or ended up paralyzed in Brazil.

The problem of the works suspended by construction company MVC goes far beyond the Rio Grande do Sul territory. Today, there are 9,700 projects for children’s schools and sports fields unfinished or paralyzed in Brazil. Of these, 1,200 are from MVC, according to an audit by the Federal Audit Court (TCU). 

In the initial phase of the Proinfância project, MVC received the most contracts in the country. It won a bid to build 1,241 daycare centers between 2013 and 2015. Most did not get off the ground. If in Rio Grande do Sul it concluded 6% of the 208 contracts, at the national level the performance was worse: 0.64%, according to the TCU. It was the least effective performance among the contractors that proposed an alternative construction method (Casa Alta made 2.7% of the contract, Consórcio PIB made 4.8% and Consórcio Concreto PVC, 5.9%). 

Dissatisfied, city governments have resorted to the judiciary. The RBS Investigation Group (GDI) found 58 lawsuits regarding MVC’s unfinished daycare centers. They are being sued in nine states: Rio Grande do Sul, Sergipe, Bahia, Maranhão, Pernambuco, Piauí, Espírito Santo, Alagoas, and São Paulo. Almost all claim damages. Two procedures, one in Novo Triunfo (BA), and the other in Marechal Deodoro (AL), are under criminal courts. Its basis is alleged irregularities in the bidding process. 

In Rio Grande do Sul, there are at least 21 municipalities suing MVC for damages. Some cities count up to four unfinished schools, promised by the company, such as Gravataí. In addition to this municipality, the report located federal court cases in Gramado, Farroupilha, Bom Jesus, Caxias do Sul, Nova Hartz, Tramandaí, Osório, Terra de Areia, Três Cachoeiras, Portão, Carazinho and Itaqui. All under civil courts. 

The municipalities of Gravataí (BRL 4.2 million for six unfinished schools, four of them from MVC), Gramado, Bom Jesus and Farroupilha (BRL 240,000 per school, five in all, plus interest since 2015) have already won their case. 

— The FNDE did not demand sufficient guarantees, and the works were concentrated from few companies. They were unable to comply with the agreement and the municipalities were left in the lurch — summarizes prosecutor Fabiano de Moraes, who worked for the Federal Public Prosecutor’s (MPF) in cases judged in the Serra region. 

In State Courts, ZH found cases in Passo Fundo, Carazinho, Iraí and Sananduva. And investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office were reported in Ametista do Sul, Erechim, Erval Seco, Frederico Westphalen and Três Arroios. 

Companies blame the government 

In July 2017, MVC entered into judicial reorganization and changed its corporate name to Gatron Inovação em Compósitos. Gatron, which hired Carpena Advogados to file compensation claims against the federal government, reports that the problems began with a lack of funding transfers from the FNDE. MVC generated 6,000 jobs at the time, “which were compromised, due to the irresponsibility of the government”, according to the lawyers in a note. Today the company generates around 600 direct jobs.

“In 2014/2015, MVC held more than 10 meetings at the Ministry of Education, explaining the problem of default and requesting the resumption of works, under penalty of the company going bankrupt and the daycare centers not being delivered. At the time, the federal government had no resources to pass on to the municipalities. MVC spoke to more than five education ministers, but given the political instability at the time, lack of financial resources, the threat of impeachment of then President Dilma Rousseff, none of the conversations were fruitful. Every week, a minister would be replaced, including that of Education,” emphasized representatives of Gatron in a note. 

Regarding the legal proceedings to which it responds, Gatron states that it has proven that it is “the victim of a disastrous management by the FNDE, which not only failed to comply with the agreement from the financial point of view, but also in meeting the specificities and problems faced by each municipality”. 

Artecola, MVC’s largest partner until then, also claims that its financial problems came from the failure to fully transfer the amounts agreed by the federal government to the municipalities. It also mentions changes in the management of the FNDE. Artecola’s defense in the lawsuits has argued that several prefabricated school structures were not sent to the municipalities because city governments took a long time to deliver the land, which should have been previously leveled and ready for the work to begin. 

According to a statement from Artecola, the company moved away from civil construction “as a result of the crisis that began with contracts signed by MVC with the government, involving the implementation of daycare centers under the ProInfância program. The Federal Government, through the FNDE and the MEC, did not honor its commitments, suspending payments for the project from the administration that took office with the new government in 2015. As a result, MVC was unable to fulfill its commitments, and Artecola, MVC’s guarantor at the time, was called upon in financial and labor claims.” 

When contacted, Marcopolo declares that its shareholding in MVC was minority, just as an investor, without management power. And it clarifies that it has already been excluded from processes related to the topic. The company also reinforces that there is no final case in which it has been convicted. 

The FNDE manifested with a note: “The FNDE administration informs that it was the responsibility of the municipalities to adopt appropriate measures in order to compel companies to carry out the works. The FNDE did not make any payment to MVC. The funds are transferred to the federated entities (municipalities), which hired the company. The FNDE is not competent to sue MVC for non-compliance with the contracts. It is up to the federated entities to file lawsuits, if necessary. The FNDE analyzes the rendering of accounts to evaluate the correct application of funds and the technical analysis to verify the execution of the works, in order to verify the fulfillment of the foreseen goals and the conclusion of the project objectives.” k for Early Childhood Education (Proinfância). This federal government project emerged in 2012 as a possible redemption for the dilemma of those who had nowhere to leave their children to go to work. Execution was just over halfway through. 

In Rio Grande do Sul, the construction of 1,843 daycare centers and sports courts was planned. Of this total, 853 were not completed. For three reasons: either they were canceled (they only had a contract, the works did not even start) or they are unfinished (the contract ended before the construction was finished) or paralyzed (the construction stopped, but the contract is still in force). 

When someone analyzes the skeletons of unfinished daycare centers that proliferate in Rio Grande do Sul, one name tends to pop up: MVC Componentes Plásticos. This company, which is undergoing judicial reorganization, started to build 41 daycare centers and never finished them. They represent 41% of the works interrupted in Rio Grande do Sul territory by the manager of Proinfância, the National Education Development Fund (FNDE), linked to the Ministry of Education (MEC)

The companies assure that the schools were unfinished because the federal government delayed all transfers of funds for the works. And also because municipalities did not comply with earthworks commitments. “More than 10 meetings were held at the Ministry of Education, explaining the problem of default and requesting the resumption of works. Nothing worked, the resources did not come”, emphasize representatives of Gatron (MVC’s new name), in a note to the editors.

The vast majority of FNDE works are made up of Proinfância children’s schools, but some are sports fields. Of the total of 853 projects that did not succeed in the state, 202 relate to MVC. Most did not even get off the ground, but 41 of these MVC daycare centers were started – and not completed. Of the 41, as the FNDE informed the editors, there are plans to redesign or resume 10. The others are abandoned. 

The Federal Audit Court (TCU) is watching and has just approved a specific audit for interrupted MEC works across the country. Almost all of the abandoned buildings are children’s schools. Of the 9,700 suspended projects, around 2,300 had some structure started. 

Even with these mishaps, Proinfância did more than it failed to do. 15,600 works were completed and another 3,600 are in progress. What is strange to the auditors, according to the court document, is that the federal government has prioritized the construction of 2,000 new schools recently, when there are so many unfinished constructions. 

The RBS Investigation Group (GDI) researched federal government and municipal websites and found that MVC is the contractor that most promised and least fulfilled, among the contracts agreed with the FNDE. When the federal government launched the Proinfância bidding process in 2012, the state faced one of the worst deficits in early childhood education, with a need for more than 215,000 vacancies. MVC closed contracts to generate 19,400 vacancies in Rio Grande do Sul, with the construction of 208 of the 1,800 projects planned by the FNDE for the State (almost all daycare centers). But only 12 schools were completed (6% of the forecast), with a balance of 1,900 vacancies created. Other contractors also failed in the commitment, but MVC is the one that has fulfilled the fewest contracts, proportionately. 

What happened? It is a long story. The federal government was in a hurry to tackle the deficit in early childhood education. In Rio Grande do Sul alone, 215,000 jobs vacancies to be created. Due to the need for speed, the first Proinfância bidding, carried out under the Differentiated Public Procurement Regime, had among the winners four companies that prepared innovative constructive proposals, which promised to conclude in less time and at a lower cost than conventional ones. One of them, MVC, won a bid to build 1,241 daycare centers in the country (208 of them in Rio Grande do Sul), by replacing bricks with a polymer (with fiberglass), a lighter material. 

The method, which claims to be more agile and cleaner than traditional masonry, uses ready-made sheets fitted together. However, the construction company was not able to build the planned schools within the established deadline. It claimed financial difficulties due to lack of transfers of state funds and asked for price readjustments, not granted by the city administrations – which would also have failed to comply with other agreements, such as preparing land. MVC even committed to building 900 by 2015 and started more than 600, according to a report brought to the federal government that year. Then the works stopped. 

The result is that, between 2013 and 2015, MVC concluded only 12 day care centers in the state. This occurred after part of the funds were allocated to the ventures. In addition to wasting public funds and the deterioration of the material wasted in the interrupted works, the communities were left without the daycare center vacancies that would be created in these almost 10 years. 

The Federation of Associations of Municipalities of RS (Famurs) mediated meetings between mayors and representatives of the construction company, which undertook to resume work. But despite promises, the schools were not completed by MVC.

Some municipalities, with the help of federal funds, abandoned the alternative method and, in many cases, used their own resources to complete the schools, hiring other contractors, in addition to obtaining assistance renegotiated with the FNDE. The worst thing is that in many cases these construction companies signed contracts to complete the interrupted works of MVC and also did not complete the service. 

— Mayors struggled to complete daycare centers when MVC left them incomplete. They managed to complete 160 of the 202 projects agreed by MVC. They did this with their own resources, in the most advanced buildings, and with funding from the FNDE in the others. In relation to the 41 interrupted constructions, many are so deteriorated that lack conditions for conclusion — says Márcio Biasi, Education Coordinator at Famurs. 

In some cases, city administrations that resumed work had to redo the entire structure, because MVC’s technology is not compatible with conventional bricklaying, says Biasi. The mayor of the coastal town of Terra de Areia, Aluísio Teixeira, confirms this. MVC abandoned a daycare center construction in that municipality when it had 34% of the work completed. The structure rusts in the open, and the municipality filed a lawsuit for damages against the company. The intention is to use the land for a new day care, but only after they manage to win the lawsuit. In the meantime, the city pays rent for rooms for small children to stay. 

— Not even the foundations of the unfinished daycare can be used more, because the innovative material proposed by MVC does not support the weight of concrete or bricks. We will have to start from scratch,” laments the mayor. 

The work was budgeted at BRL 790,000 and, according to the FNDE, two transfers of BRL 197,000 each were made. The building rots in the open. 

The Federal Audit Court (TCU) even considered that MVC would be declared unsuitable and prohibited from participating in federal bids for five years, but the measure was not adopted. Pressed by debts, the company entered into judicial reorganization in 2017. 

The corporate name MVC was changed to Gatron Inovação em Compósitos, whose headquarters are in São José dos Pinhais (PR). MVC is a corporation whose shareholders included the Rio Grande do Sul companies Artecola (74%) and Marcopolo (26%). Marcopolo alleges that it withdrew from society before the daycare project. 

Rádio Gaúcha Zero Hora: Just over half of the 1,800 daycare centers of the federal Proinfância program in Rio Grande do Sul were completed

Sérgio and Janete Eberhardt with their three children in what was to be the Alliance Park School, in Terra de Areia, on the North Coast. The unfinished work was part of the Proinfância program, launched 10 years ago by the federal government. André Ávila/Agencia RBS

To mark World News Day on September 28, 2022, the World News Day campaign is sharing stories that have had a significant social impact. This particular story, which was shared by Rádio Gaúcha Zero Hora (Brazil), was published on June 25, 2022.

July marks the 10th anniversary of one of the most ambitious construction projects ever created in the country, the National Program for Restructuring and Acquisition of Equipment for the Public-School Network for Early Childhood Education (Proinfância). This federal government project emerged in 2012 as a possible redemption for the dilemma of those who had nowhere to leave their children to go to work. Execution was just over halfway through. 

In Rio Grande do Sul, the construction of 1,843 daycare centers and sports courts was planned. Of this total, 853 were not completed. For three reasons: either they were canceled (they only had a contract, the works did not even start) or they are unfinished (the contract ended before the construction was finished) or paralyzed (the construction stopped, but the contract is still in force). 

When someone analyzes the skeletons of unfinished daycare centers that proliferate in Rio Grande do Sul, one name tends to pop up: MVC Componentes Plásticos. This company, which is undergoing judicial reorganization, started to build 41 daycare centers and never finished them. They represent 41% of the works interrupted in Rio Grande do Sul territory by the manager of Proinfância, the National Education Development Fund (FNDE), linked to the Ministry of Education (MEC)

The companies assure that the schools were unfinished because the federal government delayed all transfers of funds for the works. And also because municipalities did not comply with earthworks commitments. “More than 10 meetings were held at the Ministry of Education, explaining the problem of default and requesting the resumption of works. Nothing worked, the resources did not come”, emphasize representatives of Gatron (MVC’s new name), in a note to the editors.

The vast majority of FNDE works are made up of Proinfância children’s schools, but some are sports fields. Of the total of 853 projects that did not succeed in the state, 202 relate to MVC. Most did not even get off the ground, but 41 of these MVC daycare centers were started – and not completed. Of the 41, as the FNDE informed the editors, there are plans to redesign or resume 10. The others are abandoned. 

The Federal Audit Court (TCU) is watching and has just approved a specific audit for interrupted MEC works across the country. Almost all of the abandoned buildings are children’s schools. Of the 9,700 suspended projects, around 2,300 had some structure started. 

Even with these mishaps, Proinfância did more than it failed to do. 15,600 works were completed and another 3,600 are in progress. What is strange to the auditors, according to the court document, is that the federal government has prioritized the construction of 2,000 new schools recently, when there are so many unfinished constructions. 

The RBS Investigation Group (GDI) researched federal government and municipal websites and found that MVC is the contractor that most promised and least fulfilled, among the contracts agreed with the FNDE. When the federal government launched the Proinfância bidding process in 2012, the state faced one of the worst deficits in early childhood education, with a need for more than 215,000 vacancies. MVC closed contracts to generate 19,400 vacancies in Rio Grande do Sul, with the construction of 208 of the 1,800 projects planned by the FNDE for the State (almost all daycare centers). But only 12 schools were completed (6% of the forecast), with a balance of 1,900 vacancies created. Other contractors also failed in the commitment, but MVC is the one that has fulfilled the fewest contracts, proportionately. 

What happened? It is a long story. The federal government was in a hurry to tackle the deficit in early childhood education. In Rio Grande do Sul alone, 215,000 jobs vacancies to be created. Due to the need for speed, the first Proinfância bidding, carried out under the Differentiated Public Procurement Regime, had among the winners four companies that prepared innovative constructive proposals, which promised to conclude in less time and at a lower cost than conventional ones. One of them, MVC, won a bid to build 1,241 daycare centers in the country (208 of them in Rio Grande do Sul), by replacing bricks with a polymer (with fiberglass), a lighter material. 

The method, which claims to be more agile and cleaner than traditional masonry, uses ready-made sheets fitted together. However, the construction company was not able to build the planned schools within the established deadline. It claimed financial difficulties due to lack of transfers of state funds and asked for price readjustments, not granted by the city administrations – which would also have failed to comply with other agreements, such as preparing land. MVC even committed to building 900 by 2015 and started more than 600, according to a report brought to the federal government that year. Then the works stopped. 

The result is that, between 2013 and 2015, MVC concluded only 12 day care centers in the state. This occurred after part of the funds were allocated to the ventures. In addition to wasting public funds and the deterioration of the material wasted in the interrupted works, the communities were left without the daycare center vacancies that would be created in these almost 10 years. 

The Federation of Associations of Municipalities of RS (Famurs) mediated meetings between mayors and representatives of the construction company, which undertook to resume work. But despite promises, the schools were not completed by MVC.

Some municipalities, with the help of federal funds, abandoned the alternative method and, in many cases, used their own resources to complete the schools, hiring other contractors, in addition to obtaining assistance renegotiated with the FNDE. The worst thing is that in many cases these construction companies signed contracts to complete the interrupted works of MVC and also did not complete the service. 

— Mayors struggled to complete daycare centers when MVC left them incomplete. They managed to complete 160 of the 202 projects agreed by MVC. They did this with their own resources, in the most advanced buildings, and with funding from the FNDE in the others. In relation to the 41 interrupted constructions, many are so deteriorated that lack conditions for conclusion — says Márcio Biasi, Education Coordinator at Famurs. 

In some cases, city administrations that resumed work had to redo the entire structure, because MVC’s technology is not compatible with conventional bricklaying, says Biasi. The mayor of the coastal town of Terra de Areia, Aluísio Teixeira, confirms this. MVC abandoned a daycare center construction in that municipality when it had 34% of the work completed. The structure rusts in the open, and the municipality filed a lawsuit for damages against the company. The intention is to use the land for a new day care, but only after they manage to win the lawsuit. In the meantime, the city pays rent for rooms for small children to stay. 

— Not even the foundations of the unfinished daycare can be used more, because the innovative material proposed by MVC does not support the weight of concrete or bricks. We will have to start from scratch,” laments the mayor. 

The work was budgeted at BRL 790,000 and, according to the FNDE, two transfers of BRL 197,000 each were made. The building rots in the open. 

The Federal Audit Court (TCU) even considered that MVC would be declared unsuitable and prohibited from participating in federal bids for five years, but the measure was not adopted. Pressed by debts, the company entered into judicial reorganization in 2017. 

The corporate name MVC was changed to Gatron Inovação em Compósitos, whose headquarters are in São José dos Pinhais (PR). MVC is a corporation whose shareholders included the Rio Grande do Sul companies Artecola (74%) and Marcopolo (26%). Marcopolo alleges that it withdrew from society before the daycare project. 

Conhecimento indígena inova estratégia de combate a incêndios

Neste momento, mais de 1.600 brigadistas do Centro Nacional de Prevenção e Combate aos Incêndios Florestais (Prevfogo), do Ibama, estão trabalhando em todo o Brasil. Em 2021, o Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (Inpe) já registrou mais de 110 mil focos de queimadas, o que promete superar o ano passado, o pior desde 2008. Mas, enquanto as chamas se alastram país afora, o chefe de brigada Bolivar Xerente conta que a situação na Terra Indígena (TI) Xerente, onde vive, no Tocantins, está menos crítica do que em outros locais. “Conseguimos reduzir o capim seco, que é o combustível. Quando a gente fez as queimas de baixa intensidade, conseguimos preservar. Se alguém colocar fogo agora, acidental ou criminoso, não vai ter aquele incêndio de grande proporção”, afirma.

A ciência está ao lado de Bolivar ao apontar o próprio fogo como solução para os incêndios que se espalham pelos diferentes biomas brasileiros, ameaçando a biodiversidade e agravando as mudanças climáticas com a liberação de gases de efeito estufa na atmosfera. Quando utilizado de maneira controlada e monitorada, nos lugares e épocas certas, o fogo pode ser benéfico, como sabem há séculos os povos indígenas que aprenderam a manejá-lo de forma a preservar o ambiente onde vivem.

Essa é uma das principais premissas do Manejo Integrado do Fogo (MIF), que pode virar política nacional caso o Projeto de Lei (PL) 11.276/2018 seja aprovado pelo Congresso Nacional – hoje, a matéria aguarda votação na Câmara dos Deputados em caráter de urgência. O projeto, apresentado pelo Executivo em 2018, é item prioritário de um “pacote ambientalista” que deputados federais se articulam para votar antes da próxima Conferência do Clima da ONU, a COP26, que ocorrerá em novembro na Escócia, como forma de minorar as pressões internacionais

Fontes ouvidas pela Agência Pública garantem que o PL que institui o MIF é consenso político e não deve enfrentar dificuldades para ser aprovado. “Ele não tem polêmica entre ruralistas e ambientalistas”, diz Suely Araújo, especialista sênior em políticas públicas do Observatório do Clima e presidente do Ibama na época em que a proposta foi elaborada. De acordo com Suely, a bancada ruralista não se opõe à matéria porque ela “não interfere no negócio deles, na verdade, ajuda”.

O MIF é aplicado em maior escala pelo Prevfogo/Ibama por meio do programa Brigadas Federais (BRIFs), que desde 2014 inclui esquadrões em terras indígenas. Em 2021, 45 brigadas indígenas reúnem 800 pessoas de cerca de 50 povos em 11 estados. Os brigadistas são contratados pelo governo federal por seis meses no ano, pouco antes e durante a época seca – que pode variar dependendo do bioma –, e recebem por volta de um salário-mínimo por mês (o valor é maior para cargos de chefia e supervisão).

Indígenas dos povos Manoki e Myky, do Mato Grosso, iniciando as ações de Manejo Integrado do Fogo em maio deste ano

“O conceito de Manejo Integrado do Fogo abrange tudo que é feito para proteger uma área contra incêndios florestais, desde a prevenção até o combate”, destaca Rodrigo Falleiro, analista ambiental do Prevfogo/Ibama e um dos principais pesquisadores brasileiros do tema. Quando ele fala em prevenção, refere-se, por exemplo, a duas modalidades de queimas: as prescritas, feitas para fins de preservação ambiental ou pesquisa, e as controladas, realizadas para abrir roças e pastos – ambas executadas com planejamento, monitoramento e objetivos predefinidos.

A era do “fogo zero”

Antes dessa abordagem, a política adotada pelo Ibama era a do  “fogo zero”, que via o fogo como prejudicial em todas as circunstâncias e tinha como objetivo evitá-lo a qualquer custo. No entanto, com o passar dos anos, pesquisadores perceberam que alguns ecossistemas – sobretudo nos biomas Cerrado e Pantanal – são, na verdade, dependentes do fogo. “Se não houver uma intervenção de fogo periódica nesses ecossistemas, eles começam a perder vivacidade; muitas plantas e animais que vivem naquele lugar não conseguem mais viver. E, além de ajudar na preservação da biodiversidade, as queimas ajudam a evitar incêndios florestais, por acúmulo de combustível, e a produzir recursos naturais para as comunidades”, explica Falleiro.

Em 2007, o Ibama promoveu a primeira experiência de resgate de conhecimentos sobre o uso do fogo com um povo indígena do Cerrado, os Paresi, do Mato Grosso – o levantamento se deu sobretudo com o objetivo de analisar os efeitos do fogo sobre os animais e as plantas frutíferas.

Brigadistas em combate a incêndio na TI Parque Indígena do Xingu, no Mato Grosso Foto:Vinicius Mendonça/Ibama

A metodologia ali desenvolvida foi sendo aperfeiçoada ao longo do tempo e se tornou o que hoje se conhece como Manejo Integrado do Fogo, que associa as técnicas de prevenção e combate a incêndios às necessidades específicas do ecossistema e das comunidades que o habitam. “É a mistura da caixa de ferramentas do conhecimento técnico-científico, que a gente adquire com a academia, universidades e ciência, com a caixa de ferramentas do conhecimento tradicional”, diz Alexandre Pereira, brigadista e analista ambiental do Prevfogo/Ibama que há anos trabalha com brigadas indígenas do Mato Grosso do Sul.

O MIF é mais relevante em ecossistemas dependentes do fogo porque as queimas prescritas, além de beneficiarem fauna e flora, servem para retirar o excesso de material orgânico inflamável e impedir que um foco de fogo acidental saia de controle e se torne um incêndio. Porém, segundo Falleiro, ele se aplica também a áreas de floresta, principalmente para auxiliar na abertura de roças tradicionais. “Os brigadistas entram, se organizam para queimar todos no mesmo dia, a comunidade ajuda, os brigadistas vêm com os equipamentos e procuram fazer essas roças junto para evitar que ocorram grandes incêndios, até porque a queima de roças é bem na época da seca”, aponta. 

A aliança entre conhecimento técnico e tradicional

Hoje é consenso científico que as políticas de “fogo zero” foram prejudiciais a ecossistemas que evoluíram com o fogo porque favoreciam a ocorrência de grandes incêndios. Mas, quando elas ainda eram a estratégia oficial dos principais órgãos ambientais do país, os anciões indígenas da região já sabiam de seus riscos.

Bolivar Xerente conta que, quando começou a trabalhar na brigada da TI Xerente, ouviu um alerta de um dos “velhos” de seu povo. “Chegamos na aldeia dele e falamos que não podia colocar fogo. Ele disse: ‘Meu filho, vocês não vão dar conta de conter esse incêndio, o Cerrado necessita de você colocar um fogo controlado’. E falamos: ‘Não, a gente segura [o incêndio], a gente foi capacitado’. A gente segurou em julho, agosto, e no final de setembro uma pessoa – não foi intencional – fez um aceiro, mas começou a ventar muito, e um fagulho caiu no capim seco”, relembra.

“Esse fogo pegou e só parou quando topou o rio Tocantins. E lembramos da história do velho, que me chamou depois e disse: ‘Lembra do que eu falei pra você? [Não adianta] vocês aplicarem só o conhecimento técnico, que é feito no escritório. A gente, indígena e sertanejo, é da roça, a gente convive com isso, tudo aquilo tem um porquê, tem um objetivo’. Aí começamos a entender”, descreve.

Na contramão do que diziam os líderes indígenas, os órgãos ambientais promoviam ações educativas nas comunidades para abordar os malefícios do fogo e desestimular seu uso em qualquer situação. “Aí muito do que esses indígenas tinham de conhecimento de uso do fogo, de interação com o ambiente, acabou se perdendo”, assinala Pereira. “Em vez da gente criar uma solução, a gente criou um problema, e agora estamos tentando reverter.”

Em 2012, algumas mudanças abriram a possibilidade de uma nova abordagem, entre elas a permissão de manejo do fogo pelo novo Código Florestal Brasileiro. Pouco depois, em 2014, as primeiras brigadas federais indígenas foram contratadas. Parcerias internacionais também foram importantes, como a proporcionada pelo projeto Cerrado-Jalapão, entre os governos de Brasil e Alemanha, que capacitou técnicos brasileiros.

Com as novas diretrizes, a dinâmica de trabalho mudou. “Antes a gente chegava e impunha como ia ser o regime do fogo nas comunidades. Chegávamos e dizíamos: ‘Olha, aqui no Cerrado não pode ter fogo”, afirma Falleiro. Com a nova abordagem, “em vez de chegar dizendo que o fogo faz mal, [agora] a gente procura ouvir mais o conhecimento deles e comparar com o conhecimento científico, que em geral corrobora 100% com o conhecimento tradicional”. Além disso, para Pereira, a comunicação gera uma “relação de confiança entre o órgão público e as comunidades tradicionais”.

Entretanto, mesmo que o potencial de dano da política de zero tolerância ao fogo esteja comprovado, o MIF, de acordo com Falleiro, ainda é “exceção” no Brasil, já que poucos estados o aplicam. Por isso, é considerada essencial a aprovação da Política Nacional de Manejo Integrado do Fogo, elaborada principalmente por servidores do Ibama e ICMBio, com apoio de outros órgãos federais, e proposta enquanto projeto de lei pela gestão de Michel Temer em 2018.

Além de padronizar procedimentos de prevenção e combate aos incêndios florestais no país, a proposta prevê, entre outros pontos, a criação de um comitê nacional que comandará a articulação institucional para execução da política nacional nos diferentes biomas brasileiros. Como presidente do Ibama à época, Suely Araújo acompanhou todo o processo de construção do texto. “Ele vem para consolidar a atuação e formalizar o que já ocorre há vários anos. Dá uma institucionalidade do ponto de vista organizacional, diz quais órgãos vão participar da organização [da Política Nacional de Manejo do Fogo]”, indica. 

Ela conta que não houve dificuldades para que a iniciativa fosse encampada pelo governo federal em 2018 e que por isso pensava que seria aprovada na Câmara em poucos meses. “Mas mudou o governo e as coisas enrolaram. Ficou com uma falta de atenção, ficou parado porque era um projeto do Executivo e o Executivo não estava nem aí. Na verdade, quem está puxando isso agora é o próprio Congresso”, destaca.

A deputada federal Rosa Neide (PT-MT), coordenadora da Comissão Externa de Queimadas em Biomas Brasileiros da Câmara e responsável pelo requerimento de urgência para a votação do projeto, explica que a ideia de resgatá-lo surgiu depois da temporada de incêndios florestais do ano passado. “Nós discutimos fortemente o que aconteceu em 2020, que foi o maior incêndio que o Pantanal já viveu, e aí a gente percebeu que aos entes federados, por mais que discutam – especialmente os estados e os municípios –, ainda faltam a orientação nacional e as definições legais”, afirma. 

De acordo com a parlamentar, o presidente Arthur Lira (PP-AL) já teria avisado “aos líderes que tem todo interesse que seja rápido” o trâmite da proposta, que é consensual e deve ser aprovada sem grandes mudanças. Para Rosa Neide, o que justifica o amplo apoio à matéria são a sua qualidade técnica e o momento político favorável, com a aproximação da COP26. “O Brasil está sendo muito cobrado. O olhar de fora para nós tá sendo muito forte, muito severo. O Brasil não está fazendo o dever de casa corretamente, então tudo ajuda a impulsionar para que tenhamos uma política correta de manejo do fogo.” Sem esse tipo de ações, questiona a deputada, “quando chegar na COP, o Brasil vai dizer o quê?”

Manejo Integrado do Fogo é apontado por pesquisadores como estratégia fundamental para prevenir incêndios florestais Foto:Vinicius Mendonça/Ibama

 

Alternativa contra as mudanças climáticas

Como a redução de focos de incêndio ou ao menos a atenuação de sua intensidade significam queda nas emissões de gases de efeito estufa, a Política Nacional de Manejo Integrado do Fogo é vista por especialistas como uma arma importante para mitigar as mudanças climáticas. 

E os resultados já podem ser observados nas TIs Xavante e Araguaia, as primeiras em que o Ibama realizou queimas prescritas junto à comunidade, em 2015. Segundo artigo publicado no início de setembro, assinado por seis pesquisadores – entre eles Rodrigo Falleiro –, entre 2014 e 2018 o MIF foi responsável pela diminuição das áreas afetadas por incêndios em ambas as TIs, em comparação à fase em que predominaram as políticas de “fogo zero” (de 2008 a 2013). 

O levantamento, feito com base em imagens de satélite, indica ainda que nos dois locais as queimas prescritas “efetivamente reduziram a ocorrência de grandes incêndios florestais, o número de grandes e médias cicatrizes na vegetação, a intensidade do fogo e emissões de gases de efeito estufa”. O estudo destaca também que esse tipo de queima é reconhecido como uma estratégia de mitigação climática em ecossistemas propensos ao fogo, “uma vez que as queimas de baixa intensidade não consomem todo o combustível e, consequentemente, liberam menos gases de efeito estufa do que os incêndios”.

As análises científicas se traduzem na realidade dos povos indígenas: Bolivar Xerente enxerga impactos positivos em termos de subsistência. “Melhorou muito a questão das frutas para a nossa comunidade. No início, quando a gente trabalhava com fogo zero, tínhamos dificuldade de colher frutas. A comunidade Xerente é extrativista, cata semente, e com a semente pode plantar, fazer remédio – temos muitos remédios tradicionais. O Manejo Integrado do Fogo veio para melhorar essa situação, para a gente preservar, fazer remédio tradicional, as frutas, [atrair] as caças”, aponta.

O MIF  pode ajudar também na redução de incêndios em florestas tropicais úmidas, como a Amazônia. Quando preservadas, normalmente não desenvolvem incêndios de grande intensidade e velocidade, porém estão ficando cada vez mais suscetíveis ao fogo, de acordo com os servidores do Prevfogo/Ibama ouvidos pela Pública. “A cada vez que esses incêndios passam na floresta, eles a tornam mais inflamável”, diz Falleiro. “Quanto mais a gente demora, mais floresta degradada a gente está produzindo. O problema não é só o que está pegando fogo hoje, mas é a condição de vulnerabilidade a grandes incêndios que a gente está construindo para o futuro ao insistir em políticas de fogo zero na maior parte do país.”

Foi justamente para evitar a degradação de um ponto específico da floresta que uma brigada na TI Yanomami, em Roraima, foi treinada nos últimos meses e vai entrar em ação pela primeira vez em novembro – o período de seca no estado começa só agora, em setembro, e vai até abril. “Ali é uma área de contato, muito próxima a assentamentos, ao lado de uma Floresta Nacional Federal [Floresta Nacional de Roraima] que já está bastante degradada pelo fogo. O fogo sai do assentamento, passa pela Flona e vai para a terra Yanomami”, explica Joaquim Parimé, coordenador do Prevfogo/Ibama em Roraima. A intenção, de acordo com ele, é construir aceiros – uma faixa de terreno livre de vegetação – impedir que o fogo avance sobre a floresta naquele local, próximo aos municípios de Mucajaí e Alto Alegre.

Para além do combate às chamas, uma das prioridades da brigada da TI Yanomami será auxiliar os agricultores indígenas locais a fazer a roça – atividade que, segundo Parimé, se não é feita de maneira controlada, apresenta alto risco de descontrole. “O grande objetivo é fazer com que a queima fique circunscrita somente à área que foi derrubada, que o fogo não escape e não cause um incêndio”, salienta.

Esta reportagem faz parte do especial Emergência Climática, que investiga as violações socioambientais decorrentes das atividades emissoras de carbono – da pecuária à geração de energia. A cobertura completa está no site do projeto.

Reportagem originalmente publicada na Agência Pública

Esta história foi partilhada como parte do World News Day 2021, a campanha global para destacar o papel fulcral do jornalismo baseado em fatos ao serviço da humanidade, no fornecimento de notícias e informações fiáveis ​. #JournalismMatters

Itaipu Binacional e o compromisso com a sustentabilidade

A discussão sobre as mudanças climáticas está cada vez maior e a preocupação com o meio ambiente também precisa ser. Nesse cenário, a Itaipu Binacional, maior Usina Hidrelétrica do mundo em geração de energia, tem desempenhado ao logo de sua história um papel de extrema importância na luta pela preservação da biodiversidade, como forma de combater as mudanças climáticas.

A Usina Hidrelétrica de Itaipu é mundialmente conhecida como um dos principais atrativos turísticos de Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná (BR). No entanto, muito mais do que uma belíssima obra estruturante construída pelo homem e que atrai visitantes do mundo todo para conhecer de perto essa grandiosidade, a Itaipu Binacional é de extrema importância não só para a geração de energia como também no desenvolvimento de ações sustentáveis, sendo reconhecida internacionalmente.

A Itaipu é uma empresa binacional criada pelo Brasil e Paraguai para gerar eletricidade usando o Rio Paraná e segue princípios de desenvolvimento sustentável refletidos em suas ações e programas integrados para a promoção do bem-estar social, crescimento econômico e proteção ambiental, contribuindo para a prosperidade regional. 

Em 2015 a Itaipu ganhou o Prêmio Mundial da Água, mas bem antes disso, desde a sua concepção, em 1974, a maior usina hidrelétrica do mundo, em geração de energia, tem trabalhado no desenvolvimento de programas, projetos e atividades de caráter social e ambiental em uma área que hoje abrange um total de 15 municípios do Paraguai e 55 municípios do Brasil, sendo 54 no oeste paranaense e um no Mato Grosso do Sul.

Foto: Alexandre Marchetti/Itaipu Binacional

Além disso, atua em diversas parcerias locais e globais de combate às mudanças climáticas e seus impactos. Esse compromisso se reflete nas ações de preservação e conservação da biodiversidade, em medidas de adaptação baseadas em ecossistema, como o aumento da cobertura florestal natural, a conservação de áreas protegidas e dos serviços ecossistêmicos e pela recuperação e proteção dos recursos hídricos na escala da bacia hidrográfica.

A Itaipu possui um forte protagonismo nacional e internacional, comprometida com todos os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS) das Nações Unidas, estabelecidos na Agenda 2030. Essa agenda consiste em uma declaração global de interdependência em que os países comprometem-se a tomar medidas ousadas e transformadoras para promover o desenvolvimento sustentável em um horizonte de 15 anos.

O que são as ODS?

As ODS são uma agenda mundial adotada durante a Cúpula das Nações Unidas sobre o Desenvolvimento Sustentável em setembro de 2015, composta por 17 objetivos e 169 metas a serem atingidos até 2030. 

1 – Erradicação da pobreza;

2 – Fome zero e agricultura sustentável;

3 – Saúde e bem-estar;

4 – Educação de qualidade;

5 – Igualdade de gênero;

6 – Água potável e saneamento;

7 – Energia limpa e acessível;

8 – Trabalho decente e crescimento econômico;

9 – Indústria, inovação e infraestrutura;

10 – Redução das desigualdades;

11 – Cidades e comunidades sustentáveis;

12 – Consumo e produção responsáveis;

13 – Ação contra a mudança global do clima;

14 – Vida na água;

15 – Vida terrestres;

16 – Paz, justiça e instituições eficazes;

17 – Parcerias e meios de implementação. 

 

OBJETIVOS DO DESENVOLVIMENTO SUSTENTÁVEL (ODS) E RELAÇÕES INTERNACIONAIS

O protagonismo da Itaipu em relação aos 17 ODS é bastante forte e teve início antes mesmo da elaboração da Agenda 2030. As ações sustentáveis são feitas de forma integrada, com a cooperação de diversos parceiros. Com isso, as estratégias de sustentabilidade da Itaipu proporcionam ganhos à população e ao meio ambiente. 

Uma das importantes parcerias da Itaipu é com a UNDESA (Departamento das Nações Unidas para Assuntos Econômicos e Sociais). Em uma participação da Itaipu em um evento paralelo ao Fórum Político de Alto Nível (High Level Political Forum-HLPF, em inglês), foram apresentadas as experiências bem-sucedidas em água, energia e ação climática, e lançado o relatório “Soluções Sustentáveis em Água e Energia relacionadas à Mudança Climáticas”. 

Durante esse evento, o embaixador João Genésio de Almeida, representante permanente adjunto do Brasil junto às Nações Unidas (ONU), destacou que as negociações sobre as bases financeiras do Tratado da Itaipu vão além de questões energéticas e deixam um legado de sustentabilidade. O foco do HLPF, que acontece anualmente, é avaliar o avanço dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS) e a Itaipu tem participação ativa desde 2018. 

Foto: Alexandre Marchetti/Itaipu Binacional

Outra importante parceria é entre a Itaipu e UNFCCC (Convenção-Quadro das Nações Unidas sobre a Mudança do Clima), onde foi firmada parceria com o Secretariado da Convenção Marco das Nações Unidas sobre Mudanças Climáticas, o Protocolo de Kyoto e o Acordo de Paris, para engajamento na Agenda 2030 e difusão do conhecimento relacionado aos temas “água”, “energia” e “mudanças climáticas” incluindo a organização e execução de eventos conjuntos antes e durante as 26ª e 27ª Sessões das Partes da Convenção Marco das Nações Unidas sobre Mudanças Climáticas (UNFCCC) — _COP 26 – 2021 e COP 27 – 2022. 

A celebração desta parceria contribui para a missão e visão da Itaipu, em termos de liderança mundial na produção de energia e comprometimento com o desenvolvimento sustentável, além de representar uma oportunidade para reafirmar junto à ONU o compromisso assumido quanto à geração de energia limpa e renovável e quanto à realização dos ODS.

Ações locais 

Além da relevância internacional, a Itaipu vem se destacando em nível local e regional com ações de preservação e conservação ambiental, e dentre elas pode-se destacar algumas dessas iniciativas:

SANEAMENTO PARA A GESTÃO DE RECURSOS HÍDRICOS E SEGURANÇA HÍDRICA: 

Objetivo: Fomentar a integração de um sistema de gestão dos recursos hídricos com a implantação de sistemas sustentáveis de esgotamento, visando a melhoria da qualidade da água que chega ao reservatório de Itaipu. 

Principais resultados: Recursos Hídricos e Segurança Hídrica: implantação de plataforma de integração de dados e gestão de recursos hídricos; mapeamento do déficit florestal para planejamento de ações de conservação/recuperação; implantação do Plano de Segurança da Água (PSA); 

Implantação de Sistemas Sustentáveis de Esgotamento Sanitário (SES): implementação de melhorias nas estações de tratamento de esgoto de seis municípios da área de contribuição hídrica ao reservatório; 

Sistema de monitoramento das estações de tratamento de esgoto da UHI, Centro de Recepção dos Visitantes e Refúgio Biológico Bela Vista, com a elaboração de seis boletins informativos.

MONITORAMENTO DA QUALIDADE DA ÁGUA NO RESERVATÓRIO

Objetivo: Monitorar a qualidade da água, visando segurança hídrica para manter as condições adequadas à geração de energia e aos usos múltiplos do reservatório.

Principais resultados: Nos últimos dois anos (2019 e 2020), o reservatório e a maioria dos braços foram classificados com boa qualidade de água: oligotrófico a mesotrófico (baixa concentração de nutrientes na água); 

Implantação de sistema de inteligência de dados para a priorização dos investimentos em ações ambientais na área de contribuição hídrica;

Todas as áreas públicas de lazer foram classificadas como próprias para a balneabilidade, conforme preconiza o Conselho Nacional de Meio Ambiente;

Implantada rede de monitoramento composta por 14 estações, 5 no corpo principal do reservatório e 9 nos braços; destas, 3 são telemétricas com registros horários. 

AQUICULTURA SUSTENTÁVEL

Objetivo: Fomentar o desenvolvimento sustentável da cadeia produtiva da aquicultura na região de influência do reservatório, buscando maior segurança hídrica.

Principais Resultados: 122.000 alevinos produzidos por ano no sistema de Bioflocos; 

1.900.000 larvas de pacu e 180.000 larvas de lambari produzidas por ano em sistemas tradicionais; 

61.000 alevinos doados por ano para engorda em tanques-rede; 

Assistência para 48 aquicultores atuantes no reservatório.

GESTÃO DE RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS

Objetivo: Apoiar tecnicamente ações de gestão dos resíduos sólidos e saneamento nos municípios de atuação da Itaipu Binacional, com a finalidade de potencializar investimentos e auxiliar na promoção da segurança hídrica.

Principais Resultados: 15.575 toneladas de materiais recicláveis processados em 2020, acréscimo de 38% se comparado ao mesmo período do ano anterior; 

Potencial Teórico de Geração (PTG) de 18,93%. Esse é o índice de reciclagem regional. A média nacional é de 4% e a do estado do Paraná, 10%; 

25 Cooperativas/Associações de catadores contratadas pelos municípios em 2020 – acréscimo de 60% se comparado ao mesmo período em 2019; 

Acréscimo de 12% na renda dos catadores em 2020 e 884 postos de trabalho (aumento de 26%) – em alguns municípios, o aumento de renda dos catadores já chega a 448% desde o início do Programa, em 2003; 

51 municípios com Cooperativas/ Associações formalizadas, crescimento de 38% se comparado ao mesmo período em 2019; 

51 Unidades de Valorização de Recicláveis – UVRs concluídas e 18 em execução (69 projetadas); 

484 pessoas capacitadas em Gestão de Resíduos (técnicos municipais e catadores); 

292 consultorias realizadas em Gestão Administrativa, Jurídica e Contábil; 

43 técnicos de UVRs contratados; 

48 municípios preenchendo o Reciclômetro. (ano de referência 2020); 

Projeto de implantação de Unidade de Valorização de Resíduos Orgânicos (UVRO) em Santa Helena, PR (em andamento em 2020); 

Produção de materiais informativos e de divulgação: cartilha de gestão de UVRs, ímã de geladeira com o calendário da coleta seletiva, jingle para os caminhões de coleta, entre outros. 

Foto: Alexandre Marchetti/Itaipu Binacional

AGRICULTURA SUSTENTÁVEL

Objetivo: Promover o desenvolvimento rural sustentável e a redução de contaminantes da atividade agropecuária na área de contribuição hídrica do reservatório e outras áreas de interesse da Itaipu.

Principais resultados: Assistência técnica e extensão rural – ATER para 1.946 famílias da agricultura familiar; 

8.468 assessorias (ATER) realizadas/ano;

28 cooperativas familiares assessoradas; 

265 agroindústrias familiares assessoradas; 

Atendimento a 38 municípios; 

Vitrine tecnológica demonstrativa no Show Rural; 

Estação de Pesquisa em Agricultura Orgânica;

Apoio na estruturação do Mercado do Produtor; 

Desenvolvimento de pesquisas para geração de tecnologias para agricultura sustentável e orgânica;

Apoio na organização dos produtos da agricultura familiar para comercialização.

MONITORAMENTO DA FAUNA DE PEIXES

Objetivo: Monitorar os impactos da barragem e de sua operação sobre a ictiofauna, orientando medidas de conservação. 

Principais resultados: 16 anos de operação e monitoramento do Canal da Piracema, maior sistema de transposição para peixes do mundo, constatando seu uso por 186 espécies; 

56.851 peixes marcados em 24 anos de monitoramento das migrações, mostrando que espécieschave são capazes de transpor o Canal da Piracema vindas desde a UHE Yacyretá (440 km a jusante); 

Mapeamento das áreas de desova das espécies nativas, com destaque para as 21 migratórias, permitindo o zoneamento do reservatório e a indicação das áreas prioritárias para conservação;

Maior série histórica de dados sobre a pesca profissional em um reservatório do Brasil, indicando uma exploração sustentável dos estoques e rendimento estável há 20 anos; 

Monitoramento contínuo de 11 espécies exóticas e de seus impactos e interações com o ecossistema. 

CONSERVAÇÃO DA BIODIVERSIDADE 

Fauna, áreas protegidas, patrimônio ambiental, corredor de biodiversidade santa maria e viveiro florestal. 

Objetivos: Monitorar e conservar a fauna silvestre regional (bioma Mata Atlântica); Conservar a biodiversidade da flora regional contribuindo para a manutenção dos serviços ecossistêmicos em especial a segurança hídrica; Estabelecer a conexão entre o Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, outras áreas naturais e as áreas de preservação de Itaipu Binacional, recuperando áreas degradadas ao longo de microbacias; Produção de mudas de espécies florestais da Mata Atlântica destinadas aos programas de restauração de matas ciliares e áreas degradadas na região de contribuição hídrica ao reservatório da Itaipu, garantindo a sua saúde ambiental.

Principais resultados: Maior programa mundial de reprodução em cativeiro e conservação ex-situ da águia harpia, com o nascimento do 53º filhote;

24 milhões de mudas de árvores nativas produzidas e plantadas (maior programa de reflorestamento do setor elétrico);

902,6 hectares conservados, entre áreas naturais e de preservação permanente, envolvendo duas microbacias;

Distribuídas 5 milhões de mudas nos últimos 10 anos para 43 municípios da região.

GESTÃO POR BACIAS HIDROGRÁFICAS

Objetivo: Implementação de ações de manejo integrado de solo e água, alinhadas ao contexto de desenvolvimento territorial e segurança hídrica, reduzindo o aporte de sedimentos, nutrientes e outros poluentes na rede hídrica e no Reservatório da Itaipu. 

Principais resultados: 1.972 km de estradas rurais com adequações;

2.584 km de cascalhamento de estradas rurais; 

419 km de calçamento poliédrico; 

185 km de asfalto TST (tratamento superficial triplo); 

57.433 ha de solos conservados; 

225 unidades de abastecedouros comunitários; 

353 unidades de distribuidores de dejetos orgânicos; 

115 unidades de cisternas; 

483 nascentes recuperadas; 

1.346 km de cercas para proteção das matas ciliares.

“Na prática, a Itaipu tem, sempre teve e sempre terá uma grande preocupação com o ecossistema e a biodiversidade em todo o seu entorno. Cuidar das questões ambientais também garante a segurança hídrica e energética para o Brasil e para o Paraguai e contribui para o desenvolvimento sustentável, nos termos da nossa missão institucional”, destaca o General João Francisco Ferreira, Diretor-geral brasileiro da Itaipu Binacional.

 

Esta história,publicada aqui pela 100Fronteiras, foi partilhada como parte do World News Day 2021, a campanha global para destacar o papel fulcral do jornalismo baseado em fatos ao serviço da humanidade, no fornecimento de notícias e informações fiáveis ​. #JournalismMatters

How deforestation in the Amazon and global warming are related to droughts and flooding in Rio Grande do Sul

A boat in a flooded street in Montenegro during the July floods: 2020 had various extreme climate events in Rio Grande do Sul. CREDIT: JEFFERSON BOTEGA / AGENCIA RBS

Civil Defense estimates billion-real losses due to extreme climate events in Rio Grande do  Sul (RS). The most recurring among those events is drought, which has struck the state hard in the last two years. According to the institution, between October 2019 and January 2020, 105 municipalities declared a state of emergency due to drought, with estimated losses of R$ 3.2 billion to the RS economy regarding both private and public properties. The 2020-2021 scenario is no different – in the same time period, 107 municipalities entered a state of emergency, with losses estimated to be R$ 2.6 billion. 

News of natural disasters have been commonplace to the RS population, due to lack of rain or due to damage caused by excessive rain, another very common kind of extreme event. A remarkable example can be seen in Camargo, which has about 3,000 inhabitants and is  situated in the state’s northern area. In February 2020, five days after declaring a state of emergency due to drought, the municipality was struck by heavy rain and wind which unroofed 70 houses. The state of emergency was renewed for different reasons. 

“We had already been having issues with lack of water and great losses in agricultural production. Practically 70% of the municipality’s revenue comes from the primary sector. We  had already been dealing with that hardship and now, tomorrow we’ll be declaring a state of emergency and disaster even, I believe, due to the heavy wind”, declared then the mayor at  the time, Eliani Trentin. 

Climatologists believe that extreme situations should become even more commonplace in the following years. That is one of the various effects caused by global climate change. An analysis from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published on  January 14 showed that global temperatures rose 1.02°C in 2020 in relation to the moving  averages from the years 1951 and 1980, which makes last year the hottest ever measured by the institution. 

“The previous record warm year, 2016, received a significant boost from a strong El Niño [a change in water surface temperature distribution in the Pacific Ocean]. The lack of a similar assist from El Niño this year is evidence that the background climate continues to warm due  to greenhouse gases”, stated Goddard Institute for Space Studies director Gavin Schmidt in  a press release. [Obs.: busquei e utilizei a frase original do diretor] 

Beyond global warming, the Brazilian scenario contributes significantly to the extreme events with deforestation, according to climatologists. The deforestation rate disclosed by the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) grew 9.5% in a year, reaching 11,000  square kilometers in deforested area between August 2019 and July 2020 – a time interval which calculates the complete rain/drought cycle. The goal proposed at the Copenhagen Climate Convention (in Denmark) in 2009, which was undersigned by Brazil, was less than a third of said number (around 3,000 square kilometers). 

According to Francisco Aquino, a climatologist from the Geography Department of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), deforestation in the Amazon is directly correlated to the drought seen in Rio Grande do Sul. 

“The humidity circulation in the atmosphere has been undergoing changes, and so have the water regimes. Adding it to human activity, this causes an environmental crisis. ‘Crisis’ is a good word to use at the moment.”, the climatologist states. 

Aquino muses that excessive deforestation causes changes in the water regime – the set of variations in rains and rivers – all over Brazil, not just in the Amazon. That is due to the humidity in northern Brazil helping keep an equilibrium between rain and drought periods. 

“The Amazon has often supplied the south region and gotten a water deficit. The humidity it  creates, right now, may not be enough to provide for itself. What the scientific community has been warning is that we’re reaching the limit for the systems to augment these flaws and  for the ecosystems to collapse. They won’t be able to recover if we don’t stop logging. We’ve  got record numbers in the Amazon due to lack of oversight, since somebody does logging  and then creates a fire to clear the area. The fire spins out of control due to the region being  drier than it should be.”

Meteorologist Cátia Valente, who is responsible for the Rio Grande do Sul Civil Defense Situation Room, muses that the connection between both facts may not be easily noticeable. According to her, peak deforestation periods are small in comparison to the time scale of  climate change. However, Cátia emphasizes that extreme events are becoming the rule: 

“They have been more and more frequent and intense. Whether they’re related to climate change, science can say.” 

Cátia notices that the presence of the La Niña phenomenon, which causes a cooling of Pacific Ocean waters, has had an enormous impact on rain distribution in Rio Grande do Sul in the last few years. 

“In the summer of 2020, we had a prolonged drought, which extended into autumn. La Niña acted during the spring, disfavoring rain once again. We’ve had a few big rain events, in the  northern part of the state, but they were one-offs. Last year, we did not recover from the  water deficit that had been happening since the summer. Thus far, we’ve had a hydrological deficit of 300-800 mm accrued in the state”, the meteorologist clarifies. 

Cátia is one of the people responsible for sounding the alarm for extreme climate events, which people can receive through text messages on their cell phones. Forecasting the next  months, she declares that the rain from the beginning of January improved the situation slightly, but the state’s water system “continues to be compromised”. 

“At least until the middle of next year, we’ll be having irregular rain and water deficit issues. The outlook is that the situation could improve starting this year’s second half, with the Pacific Ocean being less cold. At least until the middle of the year, the scene doesn’t look  good”, she states. 

Meanwhile, professor Francisco Aquino notes the necessity of enhancing environmental oversight, not simply to reduce deforestation in the Amazon, but also to recompose the climate system as a whole – which includes reducing the damage of the drought in Rio  Grande do Sul. 

“A forest like the Amazon doesn’t have big stretches of drought and dryness. It is exuberant due to refuelling and recomposing itself. What’s been happening in the last four decades is that every year we cause damage. When public policy is favorable towards oversight, 

towards control, you realize that the system recomposes itself, it wants to improve. When we loosen oversight and control, the system degrades swiftly”, Aquino states. 

The impact of climate change in practice: see, in the gallery below, extreme events captured by GZH photographers in Rio Grande do Sul throughout 2020 

Extreme climate events, including rapid yet violent storms, cause effects on agriculture that  are felt even in the lives of urban area dwellers. In June 2020, the effect of drought on the  RS per capita income was to the tune of 3.3%, directly affecting the production of soy  (-27.7%), corn (-19.3%) and tobacco (-22%). Produce such as sweetcorn, spinach and  green beans had reduced harvests due to lack of rain, which raised their prices in supermarket shelves. 

“It affects general biodiversity. The produce is more expensive. You’re going to plan the net  50 years knowing you’ll be spending more money on insurance, on losses. Every farmer, when they go look for more financing, more insurance, faces greater risks. The bank says  there is greater risk because climate change is real. It’s automatic”, says Aquino. 

The climatologist muses that the pandemic shows predatory relationships towards the environment will worsen these problems in the years to come. 

“The pandemic is a fruit of deforestation, of environmental issues, of general degradation. It’s a typical example of how detached our lifestyle is from the planet’s reality. For some people, we may have investments and profitability, using natural resources as aggressively as possible, without thinking of tomorrow. This will utterly doom us all.” 

Cátia Valente also proposes that environmental education is essential to improve conservation efforts and reduce damage to nature, but that it will bring a fresh coat of belonging to new generations. 

“The community must feel like they belong to the environment. We must explain what  climate change is, why and how it happens and, at the same time, make it so the neighborhood kid knows all the garbage they use goes somewhere and may influence stronger rainfall to come and all its consequences. I believe in environmental education and in the actions of the community, in the neighborhoods, in the more practical sense. Science needs to work more in management, with public policies, bringing universities to the decision  making process, with public and private initiatives”, she states.

This story, originally published by Zero Hora in Brazil, has been shared as part of World News Day 2021, a global campaign to highlight the critical role of fact-based journalism in providing trustworthy news and information in service of humanity. #JournalismMatters.

Misuse of emergency financial aid spread across Rio Grande do Sul

First published in Zero Hora. Click here and here to read the original stories.

Summary and impact of the content on the community

The reporters were sought by the Rio Grande do Sul townsfolk with tips on wealthy people who had withdrawn emergency aid meant for the needy. The journalists accessed the government website and confirmed that the names given were listed as beneficiaries. The next step was to find signs of wealth about these people (properties, vehicles, trips) on their social media, as well as to check whether they were civil servants (and thus forbidden from getting benefits). After this verification, the final step was to find these people’s phone numbers and contact them. In some cases, the journalists were threatened. The material which was published served as a basis for investigations that have reached over 600 suspects in Rio Grande do Sul.

FULL STORY:

Misuse of emergency financial aid spread across Rio Grande do Sul

Cases of people with good purchasing power receiving the R$ 600 meant to soften the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis abound.

How about marrying in a heavenly beach in the Caribbean, along the shoreline, and spending your honeymoon in a luxury resort? The ceremony’s even got a set date. A website was specifically created to tell the couple’s story. There, you have all the information so guests can arrive at the destination. Ana Paula Brocco, the bride, is among those who have received R$ 600 in financial aid from the government, a policy created for freelancers, informal workers, small business owners and unemployed people hit by the pandemic.

In social media, Ana Paula, who is from the northwestern town of Espumoso, shows she’s been to the Caribbean and to Paris. When questioned via telephone about receiving financial aid, she confirms having done so and then becomes silent.

Ana Paula’s lawyer, Nicole Frohlich Soares, says her client fits the aid program’s criteria and that the honeymoon will be funded by a reward her fiancé received from a bank. Ana Paula managed to prevent, in court, the news story about her case from being published, but the injunction was overturned (read more below).

Reports such as this one reached the RBS Investigation Group (IG) through citizens who are outraged at what they perceive to be injustices. On one side, people without computers (or who are unable to access the overwhelmed Caixa Econômica Federal website) spend nights before banks, trying to become eligible for the program.

On the other end, people with a good standard of living, people who are educated and able to access high-speed internet, get to swiftly obtain financial aid, despite being far from bereft. This disparity has become recurring in Rio Grande do Sul, as witnessed by reporters. Among the 53.9 million Brazilians eligible for government support, many have their own homes, their own cars, and a constant economic activity.

Among those pinpointed by the IG as aid beneficiaries (receiving between R$ 600 and R$ 1,200, depending on the case), we find a renowned architect and a real estate business partner in Veranópolis. A dentist, some business owners and some politicians (plus some of their family members) in Nova Roma do Sul. A civil servant in Nova Pádua. A businessman in Encantado. And also this woman from Espumoso who leads this news story, whose wedding is scheduled to happen in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic).

In the northern town of Tapejara, nutritionist Letícia Roman Guzzo shows up as a R$ 600 beneficiary. This amount equals six consultations at the town clinic she belongs to. We called that place:

Reporter — How much does a consultation cost?

Receptionist  — R$ 110 through a private plan.

In social media, Letícia appears in pictures in Paris and Barcelona. She’s gone on cruises. When asked about the financial aid, she did not respond to any messages, nor did she pick up the phone.

Many citizens are outraged that government aid is received by people with good purchasing power. So much so, that the town of Veranópolis, in the Serra region, woke up on June 10 to a banner displayed beside the local soccer stadium, bearing the words:

“I’m a fat cat and I got six hundred…Welcome to Veranópolis! Here we have over 2,500 welfare receivers, many of them irregular. Almost 2 million in public money for the first installment. Corruption begins within each person.”

The man who put up the banner did not wish to be identified. A similar banner appeared in Garibaldi three days later.

Rio Grande do Sul Federal Police superintendent José Dornelles promises to take action against fraudsters, using data cross-checking and cybernetic tools to do so.

“Generally speaking, the crimes being done are computer device invasion, theft by means of fraud, unauthorized alteration of an information system, major larceny and insertion of false data into an information system, in accordance with each case’s specifications”, Dornelles summarizes.

Are the emergency aid irregularities a result of fraud, opportunism or a mistake? A little bit of each, according to supervisory bodies such as the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU, in Portuguese), which has already identified 620,000 Brazilians under suspicion of having received emergency aid illegally. Part of them in Rio Grande do Sul. Possible irregularities were found through cross-checking data and statements regarding income, CPF and goods under beneficiaries’ names.

This happens because all it takes is vouching for the necessity of aid and finding loopholes in the targeted professional categories. Such is the case for small business owners: a passage in the government ordinance which states that this kind of professional may be contemplated. However, a fair amount of said owners does not fit another prerequisite for welfare: only those who did not receive taxable income over R$ 28,500 in 2018 may be entitled to aid. This means , on average, R$  2,300 in monthly income (formal or otherwise). Even so, these small business owners receive aid, due to flaws in the program’s oversight.

How to inform the authorities.

The proper channel for informing authorities about fraud is the Fala.Br system, available through this link or through the numbers 121 or 0800-707-2003.

Criteria for receiving emergency aid:

  • Being over 18 years old; exceptions made in the case of teenage mothers
  • Not having active formal employment
  • Not receiving benefits paid by social security, such as retirement pay, pensions or Continuing Benefit Conveyance (BPC, in Portuguese)
  • Not being a beneficiary of unemployment insurance, insurance closures or federal coonditional cash transfer, with the exception of Bolsa Família
  • Belonging to a family with a monthly income per person of up to half a minimum wage (R$ 522.50) or with a total monthly income of up to three minimum wages (R$ 3,135)
  • Not having received, in 2018, taxable income over R$ 28,559.70, i.e. not having had to file an income tax return in 2019
  • Being a small business owner, an individual contributor to the General Social Welfare Policy or an informal worker, even if unemployed
  • 620,000 payments blocked around the country

The Comptroller General’s Office (CGU, in Portuguese) and the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) have analyzed 30.5 million emergency aid payments since April. They found nonconformities in about 620,000 benefits, equivalent to 2% of all payments, according to data obtained by the TV show Fantástico, which is broadcast by RBS TV and Rede Globo. The CGU, on the other hand, has identified many property owners or people with income that are not entitled to receiving aid, such as:

  • 86,632 people who own vehicles worth over R$ 60,000
  • 74,682 business partners with active employees
  • 22,942 beneficiaries with tax residences in foreign countries
  • 21,856 high-cost watercraft owners
  • 17,000 dead people in whose names benefit payments were made
  • 85 campaign donors of over R$ 10,000

What the Ministry of Citizenship says:

The Ministry of Citizenship, responsible for managing emergency aid, claims to work around the clock towards the evolution of the greatest benefit ever created, on a national level, in order to aid the most vulnerable among the population. The resources allocated to this act have surpassed R$ 150 billion. It’s far from an easy task says minister Onyx Lorenzoni, due to the meager speed available for building, installing and revising constantly each working process.

Emergency aid uses a governance model which creates control and oversight partnerships with the Comptroller General’s Office (CGU) and the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU). This creates audit trails which are used to identify, enact recovery efforts and provide feedback in order to improve analysis for each bundle of requests for emergency aid. The information fed into the website and the emergency aid app are cross-checked with several official data banks for documentation and economic and social situations. Besides answering for their crimes, those who defy the law are subject to reimbursement of received amounts.

RBS TV’s 11-day censorship

For 11 days, RBS TV was prohibited from publishing a news story about the emergency aid withdrawn by tradesperson Ana Paula Pagnussatti Brocco, from Espumoso. She took to the courts and managed to enact, on two occasions, preventive censorship regarding news stories about whether she fulfills the criteria for receiving benefits.

Judge Daniel da Silva Luz, from the district of Espumoso, granted an injunction that prevented her name and image to be “published” and “disclosed” in news stories. A fine of R$ 50,000 was set for disclosure. RBS TV appealed the injunction, putting forth the argument that the Brazilian Constitution prohibits preventive censorship. The censorious injunction was maintained by Associate Judge Maria Isabel de Azevedo Souza, from the 19th Civil Chamber of the Court. The censorship was overturned, on the 26th, under decree from AJ Maria Isabel herself, who reconsidered her initial decision. The magistrate considered that there was no “exceptional situation” that would justify preventive intervention towards the freedom of the press.

UNDER SUSPICION

  • Vineyard owner and dentist are among those who received emergency aid without needing it
  • News story also reveals city hall servant and judge’s husband received R$ 600 unduly as well

In the emergency aid bonanza, a vineyard owner is receiving the money allocated by the government towards needy workers. Such is the case of businessman Divanildo Kloss, from Nova Roma do Sul, in the Serra region, who received R$ 600. He lives in a cozy home and his family owns a building in the downtown area. On the phone, Kloss says he applied as a joke and will give back the money.

“I didn’t want to receive it, I gave it back, I just did it to mess around. I just wanted to see if it was going to go through or not, see? I’d never want [the benefits]. I though: as if, it’s never going to go through, since I’ve got some property there. If it got into my bank account, I’ll give it back; I neither need  nor want it.”

When informed that his son is also on the list, he replied, “For that, you’ll have to call him. If he’s getting money, I’m not aware, I didn’t know. If he’s signed up, he’ll give it back, no issue. That’s wrong, very wrong.”

On social media, Emanuel Kloss, Divanildo’s son, usually records his patronage of restaurants, plus pictures of beaches and extreme sports. In a picture from last year, he receives the keys to a brand new truck. He did not wish to provide a statement.

The list of those who have received emergency aid while being in good economic circumstances is quite long in Nova Roma do Sul. It includes a dentist, Aline Scapinello, daughter of a known politician from the town. She’s travelled to places such as Angra dos Reis, Arraial do Cabo and Rio de Janeiro, as revealed by her social media. We’ve tried to talk to the dentist; she picked up the phone, but was silent.

Associate Judge’s husband received aid

The lack of control makes it so even the husband of a judge will receive the R$ 600 (despite their family income adding up to more than the cap established by the aid itself). A partner in a license plate factory accredited by Detran in Encantado and married to a magistrate who works in the Metropolitan Region, Pedro Giordani admits he has a motorcycle, a beach house and a boat. And that he signed up for receiving aid. However, he assures he will not withdraw the money.

“I’m going to give it back. It’s just that the factory’s been stopped for 15 days. But who told you about my property? Well, I guess that’s not important right now. This business is over, I’m going to give it back.”

“I fit the criteria”, says architect

A known architect from Veranópolis, Gerson Luiz Capponi, received R$ 600 in emergency aid in May. He is responsible for designing large residential buildings in that town, drives a sports car and lives in his own apartment.  Upon being interrogated by the media, he assures he’s got a right to the benefits.

“You’ve just got to read the rules. I’ve got this apartment where I live in, but the family income must be R$ 3,135 per month, tops. Since I live alone, I fit the criteria”, he interprets.

Upon being asked whether his yearly income is under R$ 28,000, as laid out by the rules, Capponi said he was busy and hung up the phone.

Another Veranópolis resident also interpreted that he could receive benefits. Former councillor Rudimar Caglioni, real estate business partner and agent, received R$ 1,200 in emergency aid in April and May. He believed that realtors would be entitled to it, since they would spend several months without selling real estate. He has announced, via Facebook, that he has returned the money.

“In my homeland, everybody’s gotten it:  dentists, doctors, businesspeople. We thought it was a leg up for businesses. There was no bad faith on my part, so much so that I’ve already returned the R$ 1,200 and posted about it on Facebook.”

The news crew asked Caglioni if he hadn’t suspected that the benefits were for the needy and if he hadn’t noticed the R$ 3,000 cap on family income. The real estate agent assures us that he had not; he simply had seen a loophole for attaining some financial relief during the pandemic. He understood that the aid could be not just for people, but also for businesses.

Some people, either after being admonished or due to shame, have given up on the benefits. In Veranópolis, the funds for paid emergency aid, which were R$ 1,5 million in April, dropped to R$ 237,000 in May.

Town hall civil servant returned money

In Nova Pádua, town hall civil servant Keyla Marin had also received R$ 1,200 in government aid in April and May, but returned it all last week, after much criticism on social media. She assures that she did not know she was forbidden from using the benefits on account of being a town hall worker. Public officials from any milieu may not be considered for emergency aid, stresses Rio Grande do Sul Comptroller General’s Office (CGU, in Portuguese) superintendent Carlos Alberto Rambo. This is written in Decree 10.316/2020, which explains as such: “aid is vetted to a public official, including those occupying a temporary position or function or in the position of a temporary civil servant which is freely appointed or dismissed through election.”

Keyla says she thought about securing some money due to occupying a temporary civil servant position and being liable to losing her job during the election year. “Afterwards, I saw that there were people who needed it more and gave it back. The weight on my conscience was stronger than any judgement.”

Regarding small business owners, the CGU stresses that only those with a very low income are targeted by government aid.

“The spirit of the benefits is to help those who really need it and can’t sustain themselves. It’s not for someone with a consistent income of over R$ 28,000 per year”, Rambo emphasizes.

In São Marcos, also in the Serra region, it was mayor Evandro Kuwer (MDB)’s daughters who, after receiving R$ 600 each in emergency aid, decided to return the benefits. The mayor told reporter Lizie Antonello, from the Pioneiro newspaper, that both of them (Karen and Kátia) are unemployed and their husbands make little money. Thus, as Kuwer understands it, they fit the program’s criteria.

Fraude, aliás, é outra ponta do novelo de irregularidades no auxílio emergencial. Começam a proliferar nas delegacias policiais queixas de que estelionatários tiram o benefício em nome de cidadãos que sequer sabem que isso aconteceu. Reportagem de GaúchaZH mostrou que pelo menos cem casos desse tipo ocorreram no Vale do Sinos desde maio.

O superintendente da Polícia Federal no Rio Grande do Sul, delegado José Dornelles, promete agir contra fraudadores, usando para isso de cruzamento de dados e ferramentas cibernéticas.

Fraud is, in fact, the other end of the yarn of irregularities in emergency aid. Complaints are proliferating in police stations about fraudsters getting aid in the name of citizens who are not even aware it happened. A GaúchaZH news report has shown that at least a hundred cases like this have happened in the Vale do Sinos region since May.

Rio Grande do Sul Federal Police superintendent José Dornelles promises to take action against fraudsters, using data cross-checking and cybernetic tools to do so.

“Generally speaking, the crimes being done are computer device invasion, theft by means of fraud, unauthorized alteration of an information system, major larceny and insertion of false data into an information system, in accordance with each case’s specifications”, Dornelles summarizes.

How to inform the authorities

The proper channel for informing authorities about fraud is the Fala.Br system, available through this link or through the numbers 121 or 0800-707-2003.

Criteria for receiving emergency aid

  • Being over 18 years old; exceptions made in the case of teenage mothers
  • Not having active formal employment
  • Not receiving benefits paid by social security, such as retirement pay, pensions or Continuing Benefit Conveyance (BPC, in Portuguese)
  • Not being a beneficiary of unemployment insurance, insurance closures or federal coondiitional cash tranfer, with the excepption of Bolsa Família
  • Belonging to a family with a monthly income per person of up to half a minimum wage (R$ 522.50) or with a total monthly income of up to three minimum wages (R$ 3,135)
  • Not having received, in 2018, taxable income over R$ 28,559.70, i.e. not having had to file an income tax return in 2019
  • Being a small business owner, an individual contributor to the General Social Welfare Policy or an informal worker, even if unemployed

What the Ministry of Citizenship says

The Ministry of Citizenship, responsible for managing emergency aid, claims to work around the clock towards the evolution of the greatest benefit ever created, on a national level, in order to aid the most vulnerable among the population. The resources allocated to this act have surpassed R$ 150 billion. It’s far from an easy task says minister Onyx Lorenzoni, due to the meager speed available for building, installing and revising constantly each working process.

Emergency aid uses a governance model which creates control and oversight partnerships with the Comptroller General’s Office (CGU) and the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU). This creates audit trails which are used to identify, enact recovery efforts and proovide feedback in oorder to improve analysis for each bundle of requests for emergency aid. The information fed into the website and the emergency aid app are cross-checked with several official data banks for documentation and economic and social situations. Besides answering for their crimes, those who defy the law are subject to reimbursement of received amounts.

RBS TV’s 11-day censorship

For 11 days, RBS TV was prohibited from publishing a news story about the emergency aid withdrawn by tradesperson Ana Paula Pagnussatti Brocco, from Espumoso. She took to the courts and managed to enact, on two occasions, preventive censorship regarding news stories about whether she fulfills the criteria for receiving benefits.

Judge Daniel da Silva Luz, from the district of Espumoso, granted an injunction that prevented her name and image to be “published” and “disclosed” in news stories. A fine of R$ 50,000 was set for disclosure. RBS TV appealed the injunction, putting forth the argument that the Brazilian Constitution prohibits preventive censorship. The censorious injunction was maintained by Associate Judge Maria Isabel de Azevedo Souza, from the 19th Civil Chamber of the Court. The censorship was overturned, on the 26th, under decree from AJ Maria Isabel herself, who reconsidered her initial decision. The magistrate considered that there was no “exceptional situation” that would justify preventive intervention towards the freedom of the press.

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One must praise the press’ efforts towards researching and pinpointing cases of fraud and diversion of public resources that have been committed, especially when it affects the neediest among the population. Investigative journalism has shown itself to be a collaborative element regarding national transformation, shedding light on issues that must be better examined by all, many times motivated by demands borne out of society itself.

The series of new stories published by Zero Hora regarding fraud in emergency aid given by the federal government in order to minimize the critical economic circumstances many Brazilians see themselves in due to the pandemic is one example of journalism’s role in the purification of society. Besides demonstrating that civil vigilance does exist, the news story serves as an information provider so the authorities can begin to act.

No âmbito da Polícia Federal, em se tratando de desvio de recursos públicos da União, as publicações do Jornal Zero Hora funcionaram como “notícia-crime” para estabelecimento de procedimentos investigatórios. Os fatos noticiados agora passam a ser analisados sob a ótica policial, com a busca da materialidade necessária para o prosseguimento da persecução penal, observadas as normas legais e o princípio da ampla defesa.

Caso as investigações resultem em ação penal, e, ao final do processo, haja condenação, o ciclo resultará completo, iniciado pela voz da sociedade através da imprensa, conduzido pelos atores do sistema jurídico e com a aplicação da pena pelo Estado.

José Antonio Dornelles de Oliveira, Superintendente Regional da Polícia Federal no Rio Grande do Sul

Within the Federal Police, when it comes to diversion of public resources, the articles published by Zero Hora work as something of a “crime report” for establishing investigation procedures. The facts that were reported are now analyzed under the lens of police work, which seeks a material basis for forwarding criminal prosecution, keeping in mind legal provisions and the right to a full defense.

In case the investigations result in penal action and, at the end of the process, a conviction is established, the cycle will be complete, set in motion by the voice of society through the press, conducted by the agents of the legal system and ending in the application of a punishment by the State.

José Antonio Dornelles de Oliveira, Regional Superintendent from the Rio Grande do Sul Federal Police Department.

An armed scam to jeopardise the elderly

Protected by the low supervision capacities of the National Social Security Institute (INSS), financial institutions make new victims every day.

Retirees in Brazil are suffering monthly unauthorised discounts that appear in their paychecks as insurances that they had never hired.

Two of the main beneficiaries of the allowances on salaries are the Sabemi Group, which operates in the insurance business and payroll loans and is headquartered in Porto Alegre, and the National Retirees and Pensioners Central (Centrape).

Both institutions are a target for at least 1,100 complaints on the Reclame Aqui website for improper charges.
The Federal Police opened an inquiry in April to investigate these irregularities. The Superintendence of Private Insurance (Susep) reported that it is in the second inspection process against Sabemi.

The first was in 2017 and resulted in fines. The most recent, from 2018, is at its final phase and could lead to the suspension of product operation.

Celi Scursel, 71 , is one of the victims. A resident at the Vila Nova neighbourhood, in Porto Alegre, the INSS retiree found out that she was linked to Centrape when the institution had already made 16 withholdings in her salary from February 2018 to May 2019, the period during which they took R$612 (US$149.96) from her. The instalments started at R$30 (US$7.35) and now are at R$52 (US$12.74).

“I never signed an insurance contract, I didn’t authorise anything at all. I don’t know how they got my data, but I will fight for compensation”says Celi, who moonlights as an elderly caregiver to supplement her monthly income.

For weeks, the RBS Investigation Group (GDI) infiltrated six WhatsApp groups composed of financial brokers and gained access to representatives, account executives and Sabemi software where the insurance proposals are registered.

Soon, it was possible to prove that part of the products supposedly hired by retirees was rigged by forging their signatures.

In the business, the blow is called an auto-pilot, which consists of using documentation of files to insert the insurance collection in people’s accounts. The report was also presented on Sep 15, 2018 at Fantástico, on RBS TV.

Retired farmer Alvaro Machado Noveli, 77 years old, was also a victim of signature forgery.

“I still don’t know what Centrape is,” said Alvaro Machado Noveli, 77. Source: Ronaldo Bernardi Agencia RBS 77

For about one year, the resident of Rincão do Cristovão Pereira, who receives a minimum wage from INSS, had discounted monthly payments of R$ 18.74 which went to Centrape. The discovery only was made because Noveli’s stepson once needed to take the paychecks to the bank.

To this day I don’t know what Centrape is, said Noveli.

He filed a lawsuit to recover the discounted values and claim moral damage. In this case, Centrape defended itself by presenting the associate’s form of adhesion, with the supposed signature by Noveli. The judge was asked for graphoscope expertise.

The report was emphatic in stating that the signature was false. The real one is shaky, while the document from Centrape featured lettering that was rounded and cursive.

“The alleged signature inserted in the document which led to discounts in favour of defendant was falsified. (…)

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to see, nowadays, gangs specialising in jeopardising naive people of low income by using expedients as the designed in the present case”, has stated, during trial, Judge Rogério Kotlinsky Renner.

The lawsuit has already been appealed in the second instance and Centrape’s condemnation and the indemnity to Noveli have been maintained.

JUDICIAL CASES REPEAT ACROSS THE COUNTRY

In the rest of the country, there are similar cases against Centrape and Sabemi, brought by retirees who claim to have never authorised discounts.

In Campo Grande (MS), Ilto Rosa Delgado, 69 years old, is trying to recover R$525 which Centrape withheld from his salary. At the request of the report, graphoscope and document scope expert João Henrique Saibel Rodrigues analysed Delgado’s alleged signature in a membership proposal:

Celi , who suffered 16 retentions on her salary totaling R$612, has been trying to claim her these benefits.

“It’s a crudely forged signature, which used a model not in use by the person anymore, probably from some old document.”

There are cases in which it takes time for the elderly to realise the monthly retention and, when that happens, they are directed to call centre units. Meanwhile, agents, representatives, and companies accumulate resources.
Both Sabemi and Centrape said they do not condone any kind of fraud.

“IF YOU HAVE A R$ 20,000 PER MONTH CUSTOMER PORTFOLIO, YOU’LL JUST BE HOME LYING DOWN”

Insurances for retirees, in this specific case, are payroll loan ramifications, in which the payment parcels are withheld on the paycheck. Finance companies hold large document file volumes accumulated over years of lending, plus other data banks, which are sold in brokers’ WhatsApp groups.

The portfolios include personal information and copies of the general register (RG) or the National Driver’s License (CNH). With this set, representatives who adhered to the practices make retirees’ data entry in banking software in the so-called autopilot (use of documents from files to include the insurance billing in the account without the person knowing).

Then comes the most important step: the so-called formalisation, at which time the signature is falsified. The systems of the institutions are partnered with major banks or directly with the INSS, which allows them to transmit electronically the fraudulent insurance membership. After receiving the data, the INSS digitally stamps the monthly discount on the paycheck of the retiree.

The step-by-step instructions were taught and narrated to the reporting team by several artificers of this business.

One of them is Alessy de Almeida Cardoso, owner of Alupe Promotora, in Teresina (PI). Using staff skilled in signature forgery, Alessy’s company makes insurance for retirees on autopilot.

While in contact with the reporting team, who posed as potential clients, Alessy used Armais Promotora, his brother Rodrigo Silva Cardoso’s company, to register a GDI reporter as an agent, with authorisation to log in and use the password to access Sabemi’s system, where elderly data is included to forge product hiring. Armais is Sabemi’s representative in the Northeast. In the conversation, Alessy explained the reason for betting on insurance:

“The payroll is a little tricky, sometimes you earn and sometimes you lose. There’s contestation, there’s fraud. Today, I focus more on insurance. It’s profitable, it will give you security. By the end of the year, if you have a client portfolio of R$20,000 per month, you will stay at home just lying down, you won’t need to sell anymore.”

A COURSE ON HOW TO FALSIFY DOCUMENTS GIVEN BY WHATSAPP

The advantage of insurance is that, once included in the pensioner’s paycheck, it will generate commission payment to the agent, to the representative accredited and to the bank every month.

This will only stop when those jeopardised get rid of the charge or when they die. Therefore, the insurance portfolios are cumulative and generate perennial money.

“What if you have any problems? It won’t come to anything. From the moment someone gives a complaint, Sabemi has a retention table, a call centre that will show the benefits (of insurance, such as prize draws and discounts at pharmacies).

From every 10 calls they receive there, only one cancels. I’m typing out one thing without the consent of the customer, but Sabemi says the responsibility is theirs,” narrated Alessy de Almeida Cardoso, owner of Alupe Promotora, in Teresina, Piauí.

“I, as an executive, can never endorse it. But that it makes money, it does. And a lot. Some people earn R$300,000 per month. Has anyone been arrested? Never,”

Over the phone, he introduced an employee from Alupe named Caio, responsible for teaching typing shortcuts and falsification.

The employee demonstrated over Whatsapp how a forged signature could be covered up with the help of a light bulb.

INSURANCE BENEFITS REMAIN IN A PROMISE ALONE

Sabemi Seguradora’s strategy, as revealed by their account executives and representatives, includes the presentation of supposed advantages guaranteed to retirees who discover they have become partners of the Brazilian National Retirees and Pensioners Central (Centrape).

The RBS Investigation Group (GDI) found that part of the alleged benefits, highlighted in Centrape advertisement and by Sabemi employees are difficult to access and are targeted for cancellations, such as the monthly draw of R$20,000 in the title of capitalisation and the drugstore discount.

Celi , who suffered 16 retentions on her salary totaling R$612, has been trying to claim her these benefits.

In one of several different incidents, the 71-year-old INSS retiree tried to use the benefit of technical assistance to fix her fridge. She was then told that the cost of the parts would be borne by the retiree. However, the technician that was scheduled to visit her house never showed up.

INSTRUCTIONS TO OVERLOOK FORGERY

January 2018 audio recordings by a former employee from the Pampa Insurance Club, in downtown Porto Alegre, reinforce the evidence that Centrape is a Sabemi product.

Two conversations were captured at meetings of supervisors of the Pampa Club with staff responsible for insurance typing. At that time, the Pampa Club was Sabemi’s representative in Rio Grande do Sul, with 65,000 completed sales, according to information provided by supervisors during the meeting.

A Sabemi envoy was also present in the discussion, in which Pampa Club staff were ordered to overlook forgery of signatures, which were generating many “refusals”, occasions in which the business is stalled by technical problems.

“First of all, guys, the number of declines. We have to take our foot off the brake. Let’s be honest, we work with a photocopy machine. There is a lot that we accept, and we know that it is not really the customer. But it is our reality. Nobody here is a child,” said the then supervisor of Pampa Club identified as Marcia Cristina.

In a note, Sabemi reported that it promoted the discrediting of Pampa Club.

EMPLOYEES CONFIRM EXISTENCE OF FRAUD

The reporting team contacted a Sabemi’s account executive and went to the headquarters of Sabemi financial institution in the historic centre of Porto Alegre, for an alleged business meeting. In the conversation, the official said that, currently, insurance accounts represent 70 per cent of the company revenue. Not knowing he was being recorded, the executive confirmed the existence of fraud.

The team also spoke to a Sabemi account executive located in the São Paulo countryside – the institution currently has 38 branches in 23 states. The scams would run trivially in the market, so she knew how to detail even the salaries of some representatives.

“I, as an executive, can never endorse it. But that it makes money, it does. And a lot. Some people earn R$300,000 per month. Has anyone been arrested? Never,” said the executive.

REPERCUSSIONS OF THE REPORT

The impact of the report was seismic. Sabemi Insurance announced that it would return the money to the elders who were jeopardised.

It also said they would cease to operate in the field of associative insurance, the mode in which fraud occurred. Centrape, Sabemi’s business partner, also announced that it would end their search for associates.

The INSS suspended transfers of discounted amounts from senior paychecks to Centrape as membership fees. Due to the fraud, the INSS understood that Centrape should no longer be remunerated.

Procon-RS and the Public Defender’s Office opened special committees to check if Sabemi would properly compensate the jeopardised elderly.

The Superintendence of Private Insurance (Susep) suspended for 30 days the financial assistance operations of Sabemi, a byproduct of insurance. Susep has opened a new administrative investigation to investigate Sabemi’s conduct.

This story by Carlos Rollsing, Jonas Campos and Aline Rodrigues was originally published on Sep 16, 2018 by Zero Hora.


BEHIND THE STORY
To investigate payroll insurance and payroll loans, Zero Hora reporter Carlos Rollsing, in a partnership with RBS TV’s Jonas Campos, spoke to victims and infiltrated scammers’ WhatsApp groups. It took around 50 days’ worth of research. From the telephone contacts, the reporting team approached bank correspondents and insurance representatives from around the country who specialised in gathering retiree documents and falsifying their signatures to divert a part of their paycheck to the National Retirees and Pensioners Central (Centrape). The elderly victims had no idea what Centrape was, but, every month, they were unwittingly enriching these professional scammers.