The poor conservation of the Santa Catarina stretch of BR-470 and the recent cut in federal funds for highway duplication works generated criticism of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government in one of the president’s main electoral strongholds. The complaints were also directed to the minister of Infrastructure, Tarcísio de Freitas, a possible candidate for governor of São Paulo.
Bolsonaro obtained in Santa Catarina 66% of the valid votes in the first round of the 2018 elections and 76% in the second.
Photos with holes in the road’s bad pavement have even become internet memes.
In September, the Union started a fill-in operation in the most problematic stretches of the BR-470. The solution, however, is palliative, according to Eduardo Schroeder, former coordinator of the technical chamber on the Condesul highway (Rio do Sul Economic Development Council) and president-elect of the entity.
The PRF (Federal Highway Police) confirmed that there are stretches of the BR-470 in a poor state of conservation, mainly in the interior of Santa Catarina. The agency stated that it periodically reports problems to the Dnit (National Department of Transport Infrastructure) so that it can take action.
BR-470 crosses the interior of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. In Santa Catarina, it passes through cities like Curitibanos, Blumenau and reaches Navegantes, on the coast. It also helps access the port of Itajaí, the state’s product export channel.
The highway is the third most important in Santa Catarina, behind BR-101 and BR-116. These two highways are granted to private companies. Of the three most important in the state, therefore, BR-470 is the only one whose conservation is the responsibility of the public authorities.
In 2011, then-president Dilma Rousseff (PT) promised to duplicate 73 km of the BR-470, between Indaial and Navegantes. The works should have been completed in 2017, but arrived in May this year with 50% of their execution schedule completed.
The delays forced the state government to commit to investing R$300 million in the federal project to speed it up. An agreement between Minister Tarcisio and Governor Carlos Moisés (non-party) was signed in September to make state aid to the Union feasible.
It turns out that, in November, the federal government itself withdrew from the Dnit budget R$ 25 million that would be destined to the duplication of the BR-470. The cut, formalized in an ordinance by the Ministry of Economy, surprised politicians from Santa Catarina and even led allies to criticize Bolsonaro.
“I’m sympathetic to Bolsonaro. I was the president’s voter. But I can’t admit such a cut,” said state deputy João Amin (PP), president of the Transport Commission of Alesc (Legislative Assembly of Santa Catarina) and son of the former governor and today Senator Espiridião Amin (PP). “It’s inconceivable.”
Another politician and declared voter from Bolsonaro who spoke out against the measure was the mayor of Blumenau, Mário Hildebrandt (Podemos). According to him, the cut in resources was a surprise and reinforces what he called the federal abandonment of one of the most important highways for the economy of Santa Catarina.
This abandonment is more evident in the stretches of BR-470 that were not even included in the duplication project in progress, according to Schroeder.
According to him, a series of potholes in the road make a 90 km journey through areas that are not even under construction on the BR-470 to last up to three hours.
The holes became, mainly between October and November, the subject of jokes and protests on the internet. “Shame on the calamitous situation we have arrived at! Never again for this troop to be re-elected!”, posted businessman Gustavo Rahmeier, from Rio do Sul, citing Bolsonaro, Tarcísio and others.
In June, regional musician Zé Barth, from Apiúna, released a song asking Tarcísio not to forget about the people of Santa Catarina and to repair the BR-470. In October 2018, he had honored Bolsonaro with another song.
“Even who voted for Bolsonaro can no longer defend him,” said state deputy Paulinha (no party). “Is the president coming here just to ride his motorcycle? He can’t.”
Paulinha said that BR-470 is one of the highways with the most fatal accidents in Santa Catarina. Data from the PRF (Federal Highway Police) show that in 2021 alone, 50 people have already died on the road. In the first weekend of December alone, there were six deaths.
Sought, Dnit did not comment on the BR-470.
The Ministry of Infrastructure did not comment on the state of the highway or the deadlines for completing the duplication and recovery works.
Regarding the R$25 million cut in the budget for the duplication, the ministry said that it is a “temporary relocation without any damage to the projects”. According to the ministry, “the replacement of canceled resources is being planned by Dnit for the beginning of 2022”.
The federal government also informed that works in Santa Catarina have been prioritized. “Throughout 2021, another R$ 120 million had already been supplemented for Dnit actions in the state. In this way, the resources currently allocated by the federal government are sufficient to guarantee the progress of the works.”
Studies carried out by the federal government indicate that the BR-470 needs to be about 240 km duplicated, from Navegantes to Monte Alegre, at the intersection with the BR-116. The current duplication project covers less than a third of the total for this stretch.
The government of Santa Catarina has not commented on the contribution of state resources to the federal project, nor on the cut in federal resources for the duplication of the BR-470.
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