Industry launches Legislative Agenda, with basic sanitation as an emergency in pandemic time

The National Confederation of Industry (CNI) today launches the 25th edition of the Legislative Agenda of Industry. Built on the basis of close dialogue with the industrial base, it presents the priority projects for Brazil to grow again. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the consequent restrictive measures implemented in Brazil, this will be the first time that the disclosure is made entirely in a virtual way. Emphasis on the new framework of basic sanitation as an urgent measure to prevent epidemics. For the country to grow again in the post-crisis, tax reform is pointed out as an absolute priority. Currently, 100 million Brazilians live in homes without sewage collection and more than 34 million do not have a water supply, a situation that favors the spread of diseases, such as covid-19. Bill 4.162/2019, already approved by the House of Representatives and under discussion in the Federal Senate, establishes that municipalities will have to make bids for basic sanitation services, with the possibility of private and public companies competing under equal conditions. A total of 1,277 Brazilian cities have a contract for sewage collection, but do not have the service. Another 206 municipalities maintain services, although their delegations are overdue, and 36 use precarious contracts. According to a cni survey, 1,519 Brazilian cities – representing 57% of the 2,677 that have delegations for sewage services – are undocumented. In other words, no formal definition of how the service should be provided, without any requirement of quality or expansion.