While the government of Minas Gerais, under the management of Romeu Zema (Novo), seeks to sell the Companhia de Saneamento de Minas Gerais (Copasa), experiences of privatizing water and sanitation in municipalities in Minas Gerais demonstrate that negative impacts are diverse and that poor families are the most affected.
More expensive bills, lack of service in rural areas, maintenance problems and less comprehensive social tariffs are some of the common consequences for cities that chose to leave service management in the hands of the private sector.
Pará de Minas
In Pará de Minas, a municipality in the Central region, since 2015, the company Águas de Pará de Minas, part of the Águas do Brasil Group, has been responsible for managing water distribution and sanitation.
During the licensing process, the company promised that there would be a reduction in the tariff. Initially, the value fell by 3%, however, in a short period of time, it grew exponentially, becoming 86% more expensive for families that depend on the social tariff and 35% for other users.
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“It is a tariff that increases proportionally more for the poorest than for the richest. The situation is one of tariff increases and lack of investment. So, this is the first and most serious consequence of privatization: not ensuring water as a human right for the most vulnerable”, says João Bosco, master and doctor in Sanitation, Environment and Water Resources from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Senra.
Black gold
In Ouro Preto, also in the Central region, for years, the population of the municipality has been fighting for the remunicipalization of services, which are currently managed by the company Saneouro. Families complain about abusive charges, lack of supply and poor quality of water that reaches their homes.
A survey by the Federation of Residents’ Associations of Ouro Preto (Famop) indicated that the amounts of bills charged in the city are three times higher than the average in other municipalities. As a result, families are unable to pay and end up having service provision cut off and left unassisted. This is what the resident of the municipality, Bruna Monalisa Ramalho Gomes, explains.
“Water stops being a right and becomes a commodity. And, those who don’t have money to pay the tariff are left without water. How to live without water? This is the question that many of us have been asking the public authorities”, she asks.
Another question is about the concession process, in which Saneouro emerged as the winner. After questioning the population, the City Council even established a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) in 2021, which investigated irregularities in the contract with the concessionaire. But the report was not taken forward.
After popular pressure, last year, Ouro Preto City Hall announced a 28% reduction in the price of residential water tariffs and ended the rule that limited the maximum number of families benefiting from the social tariff to 5%.
Valadares Governor
At the beginning of this year, the City Hall of Governador Valadares, a municipality in the Vale do Rio Doce region, signed a contract with the company Águas de Valadares, part of the Aegea Saneamento group, which became responsible for water distribution and sewage treatment in the city. city.
The National Observatory for the Rights to Water and Sanitation (Ondas) announced that, just one week after signing the contract, dozens of neighborhoods were left without water supply. The complaint was also made by the Union of Workers in the Water Purification and Distribution Industries and Sewage Services of the State of Minas Gerais (Sindágua/MG).
“It is a strong warning for the population of other cities in the interior of Minas Gerais, where mayors insist on handing sanitation over to the private sector, deliberately forgetting the social commitment to managing water as a public good. These cases undermine the misleading thesis that privatization is the solution to increasing investments and improving services”, published Sindágua/MG on its website.
Ongoing processes
In other municipalities, service concession processes are underway for private companies. In the case of Ipatinga, in the Vale do Aço region, experts denounce irregularities and a lack of dialogue with the population. For almost three years, city residents have resisted the privatization of the service, fearing the negative impacts.
“It worries me a lot because in several municipalities in Brazil privatization has happened and what we see is the worsening of the sanitation service and the rise in tariffs. This is worrying. Water is an essential good for the population, it is a public good”, said councilor Cida Lima (PT), in an interview with Brasil de Fato MG.
In Patos de Minas, a public hearing at the City Council, in March of this year, highlighted criticism from the population of the attempt to hand over the service to the private sector.
“These are concessions that are starting a privatization process, but that certainly already signal that they will cause problems”, emphasizes João Bosco Senra.
Examples in Brazil
As shown by Brasil de Fato MG, the experiences of other states in the country also brought negative consequences. In Rio de Janeiro, for example, after the sale of the State Water and Sewage Company (Cedae), the percentage of sewage treatment fell and the number of complaints due to lack of water increased.
In Alagoas, Ceará and Rio Grande do Sul, the population also deals with problems such as a drop in treated water coverage, high tariffs and a lack of transparency on the part of companies.
In Manaus, where the service has been privatized for more than 20 years, 80% of the population suffers from a lack of sanitation, according to the National Sanitation Information System (SNIS 2020).
Other consequences
Doctor in Sanitation, Environment and Water Resources João Bosco Senra highlights that, in addition to these consequences, one of the main effects of the privatization of sanitation and water distribution is the lack of service to rural areas, where families in situations of greater vulnerability live. social and economic.
“Private companies aim to make a profit. It will always prioritize investing and carrying out maintenance in areas with large consumers, and not in small municipalities or where the most vulnerable population is. Unlike public authorities, which may understand water as an essential good”, concludes the researcher.
The other side
Wanted by Brasil de Fato MG Águas de Pará de Minas reported that the tariff adjustment is carried out according to the parametric formula, provided for in the concession contract. Saneouro and Águas de Valadares did not return our contact.
Editing: Leonardo Fernandes
Tags: Minas Gerais cities privatized water
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