Government will use new loan resources to repair roads

The Government of RN stated, through the Communication Secretariat, that it will use resources from a new loan from the World Bank to continue with the recovery of state highways. The loan under negotiation will be R$900 million, “with around 80% to 90% for roads”, according to the text from the Communication Secretariat. A report by TRIBUNA DO NORTE published last Sunday showed that the approximately R$ 427 million invested by the government with federal resources from the Fiscal Balance Program (PEF) are only enough to renovate 56.3% of the highways classified as “in state bad or terrible.”

The road diagnosis is present in an internal highway monitoring report produced by DER at the request of the State Comptroller General. The data, according to the terms of the document, are for the month of April 2024. The report obtained by TRIBUNA DO NORTE shows that, of the 3,379 km of state road network, around 1,243 km are classified as bad or very poor by the technical team of the government itself, which corresponds to 37.11% of the total number of RNs. The report also points out that, of the 3,300 km of RN’s road network, 284.4 km are in excellent condition, 365 km in good condition and 1,489 km in regular condition.

In contact with the TN report, the Communication Secretariat reported that the government did not state that the problems and difficulties of the Potiguar road network would be resolved with the R$ 427 million and that the amount “is only the first installment of the loan for a total of R$1.6 billion”. The Government’s Office also reported that the amount invested in roads is the highest in RN in 20 years and that the State spent two decades without a road network recovery program.

According to the Government, the Executive has already obtained approval from the World Bank to renew the loan and is in the process of concluding the project to send to the bank, in order to obtain the resources to make more investments in the State’s highways.

Also according to the Government, the World Bank’s road projects are for requalification, with sections being completely rebuilt, with increased width, height and shoulders.

“The State is fully aware of the problems with the road network and that is why it focused on financial solutions to guarantee resources exclusively for recovery. So much so that he made a considerable effort to comply with the requirements and regain credit from financial institutions, thus obtaining the necessary loans”, informed the advisor.

There are three notices for road recovery that have already been released between the end of February and the beginning of March this year. One of the bids has already been finalized with the winner approved and the other two are in progress with the State Government. The 700 km will cost the Government around R$427 million, an investment resulting from the signing of the Fiscal Balance Program (PEF) agreement.

Losses
The poor road conditions in Rio Grande do Norte cause losses for passengers and, in particular, for the productive sector in Rio Grande do Norte. This is what interlocutors from entities representing the State assess, such as the Federation of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of RN (Faern) and the Federation of Road Transport Companies of the Northeast (Fetronor). This weekend, TRIBUNA DO NORTE showed that the recovery plan for 700 km of roads announced by the Government of RN will not be enough to recover all state highways classified as bad or very poor by the government itself. The resources for the works are in the order of R$427 million.

The president of the Federation of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Rio Grande do Norte (Faern), José Vieira, points out that the terrible conditions of RN’s highways have caused losses to the economy of Rio Grande do Norte. He cites as an example a report from the National Transport Confederation (CNT) which pointed out that losses from maintenance of vehicles, tires, equipment, among others, generated a loss of R$133 million last year in RN alone.

“Among other losses for the production sector, we can point out, for example, delays in the delivery of goods, increased transport costs due to damage to vehicles and increased fuel consumption. This affects the competitiveness of our companies when compared to states like our neighbor Paraíba, for example, where the highways are much better than ours. In addition to all this, bad roads reduce the efficiency of the production chain and cause investment to flee the region. The basics are not being done”, he points out.

The president of the Federation of Passenger Transport Companies of the Northeast (Fetronor), Eudo Laranjeiras, has the same thought. He points out that PEF resources represent a “first step”, but reinforces that more investments are needed.

“We hope that this promise from the Government comes true and that this year we can have a substantial improvement on the roads. This is economically disruptive and imagine the transport user, how they suffer with potholed roads, broken buses, etc. A pothole is a serious problem, with a risk of accidents. We hope that the governor continues to do so, there is a commitment from DER to improve this condition,” she said.