Undeniably, the predatory action of man on nature is one of the main factors of cyclical drought, in addition to natural factors such as the The girl. A growing number of municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul have declared an emergency situation due to lack of water. Water sources drying up, compromising crops, animal life and also, most seriously, human life.
From the point of view of human consumption of water, there are numerous municipalities where water collection and treatment are impaired, increasing the cost. In many others, the use of water trucks has been the solution. In the urban areas of the municipalities where Corsan operates, the responsibility for supply rests with the state-owned company.
It is worth remembering that Corsan was not sold. It continues to be public because, despite the auction having taken place, there are four injunctions in court that prevent the signing of the sales contract. There are several poorly explained issues that need to be clarified. The selling price is one of them.
But, returning to the dry season, we have cases of municipalities where the entire water supply is being provided by water truck at this time. And what is the additional cost for the user where Corsan spends fortunes on water truck rentals? It’s zero.
And this service at no additional cost is not because the government is “nice” and does not want to charge the user. The non-addition of values is a contractual issue. Today, the current contract between municipalities and public Corsan says that it will only give rise to an Extraordinary Tariff Revision (increase above inflation) when the Corsan System goes into imbalance. That is, when the collection of all Corsan is less than the cost it is having.
Translated, it is the Cross Subsidy. When a municipality has a cost greater than what it collects in the tariff, the collection of other municipalities covers this cost and the tariff does not increase above inflation.
But what is hidden in privatization?
If privatization occurs, the cross-subsidy ends. The Additive Terms signed by mayors (including mayors who are now suffering from drought) change this system.
After the privatization, the economic and financial balance of the contract for a given municipality will be based solely on the collection (compared to the cost) of Corsan in that specific municipality. That is, the entire cost of the sanitation service provider in the municipality will have to be covered by the tariff collection of that municipality. Corsan’s global fundraiser will no longer be allowed to bail out specific municipalities. Of course, all of this was designed to increase the private company’s profitability and harm the user. Yes, the mayor signed this.
That is, not only in sanitation improvement works but also in cases of drought where the cost increases for the service provider with water trucks or difficulty in treating the water, the mayor authorized that this be included immediately in the tariff that the user pay. Do you understand?
State Corsan: Extra costs are spread throughout the Corsan system and do not increase the tariff.
Privatized water: The extra costs are shared only by the users of that specific municipality.
Do you understand the difference? Who will pay more? Not only, but mainly users from medium and small municipalities.
PS: In several municipalities, city halls are bearing the cost of water trucks to supply the rural area. Detail: The water they take to the interior comes from the public company Corsan which, in many cases, is not being charged. Private company will certainly charge.
* Rogério Ferraz is Director of Communication Sindiágua/RS
** This is an opinion article. The author’s view does not necessarily express the editorial line of the newspaper Brazil in fact.
Source: BdF Rio Grande do Sul
Editing: Marcelo Ferreira
