Infrastructure works spread across SC ran out of money in 2023

One topic has been driving demands from political leaders on the State government: the resumption or beginning of infrastructure works in Santa Catarina. In the Legislative Assembly (Alesc), deputies have been demanding the Executive for the return of investments, mainly in state highways. In reaction, in recent weeks, the government has announced the restart of stopped works and the start of services.

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A survey carried out by state deputy Fabiano da Luz (PT), and checked by the column, shows that 87 infrastructure works projected in the 2023 budget were left without resources. In total, it is estimated that R$619.7 million was no longer invested in investments.

Among the state highways that did not receive the expected money are SCs 114, 281, 283, 284, 340, 423, 462, 486, 108, 114, 120, 154, 159, 350, 435, 477, 479, 161 and 163. Another concern is with the general budget execution for infrastructure. In addition to the R$619.7 million, there was around R$380 million that were not invested by the Infrastructure secretariat in 2023.

In the total budget for the sector, R$2.68 billion was expected to be spent, but R$1.4 billion was used.

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What the government says

In a joint note, the government expressed its opinion on the budget issue. The position of the Finance and Infrastructure and Mobility departments says that “the 2023 budget forecast was made in the previous year, a period favored by the entry of temporary and extraordinary resources during the Covid-19 pandemic”. Furthermore, the text highlights that “in 2022, investments in road infrastructure, for example, represented R$2.58 billion, while the average between 2019 and 2021 was only R$642.4 million” which reveals a concentration in 2022 of “outlier values compared to previous years”.

Finally, the Executive says that the forecast of contracting a loan from BNDES also increased the budget projection for 2023. However, the government signed the contract of R$ 632 million only in the last week of December, but the release of the funds is conditioned on a physical-financial schedule that will be released as the works progress.

This Thursday (28), on social media, governor Jorginho Mello (PL) announced resources applied to the SC-350, access to Concórdia via BR-153 and the Ageu de Medeiros highway, in the south of SC.