The National Association of Private Concessionaires of Public Water and Sewage Services (Abcon) is preparing a document that should be delivered to the new government in the coming days. According to the entity’s executive director, Percy Soares Neto, the idea is to present strategies for the universalization of water and sewage services.
According to Soares, the final version of the report is still being discussed, with the participation of associated companies. “We understand that the universalization of sanitation in the country involves partnerships of different models. In this sense, we want to show that the private sector is willing, in light of the approved regulatory framework, so that this issue can move forward.”
Last Sunday, the 1st, the day of the inauguration of the elected government, a series of acts signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) showed that the issue of is a priority for the new administration, but the confusion generated by the texts caused concern among the companies, according to the Estadão/Broadcast, Grupo Estado’s real-time news system. One of the most criticized points is the possible withdrawal of the regulatory power from the National Water and Sanitation Agency (ANA). The doubt raised in Provisional Measure 1154/2023. According to the text, the agency becomes linked to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change and loses the mention of “sanitation” in the name.
Report
In December, the elected government received a report from the Transition Group of Cities suggesting the transfer of the sector’s standard-setting competence, currently in the hands of the ANA, to a department of the National Secretariat for Environmental Sanitation (SNS), which will be linked to the Ministry of Cities. The transition group’s justification was that the creation of reference standards by the ANA “creates legal uncertainty due to conflicting interpretations of the role of subnational agencies”. The group also claimed that the change in ANA’s attributions “made the inadequate exploitation of springs and natural resources more flexible”.
According to lawyer Gustavo Kaercher Loureiro, a researcher at the Center for Study and Regulation in Infrastructure at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), ANA’s regulatory role was validated by the Federal Supreme Court (STF). “The topic was widely discussed at the Supreme Court, with judgments that validated the ANA to issue reference standards. Changing that seems like a step backwards to me, ”he assesses. For the sanitation specialist, a new law would have to be approved to remove the competence of the ANA as a regulatory agency for the sector. “It’s no use just changing the name.”
Strategy
In Soares’ view, the biggest problem resides in the new government’s lack of clarity about the strategy to achieve universal access. “It’s natural that every government at the beginning of its mandate has timing to organize itself, and it has already shown that the issue (sanitation) is dear to it. But these decisions made without coordination raise concerns,” he says.
For an executive in the sanitation sector, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the regulatory framework is fundamental for investments in the sector. For him, a rule change “is a shot in the foot”.
Members of the new government already signaled during the week that there was a “mistake” in the published acts, which must be corrected. Additionally, they state that the issue of sanitation will be debated continuously.
According to a person linked to the largest private companies in the sector, the current moment is one of great “insecurity”, with companies waiting for a “definition on the future.
In the meantime, the goals of universalization of water and sewage services may be postponed, assesses Soares. “The risk of postponing universal access to 2033 is real.”
In the view of the executive president of the Trata Brasil Institute, Luana Pretto, the sudden changes can be used as a justification for not meeting the universalization targets. “We need the industry benchmark standards to be issued as soon as possible. The longer it takes, the greater the chance of postponing the achievement of goals”, she says.
The information is from the newspaper The State of S. Paulo.
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