The law that created the National Department of Transport, in 2001, authorized the installation of regional superintendencies to facilitate the body’s work. Today, these units operate in all states in the administration of the country’s road system, involving “its operation, maintenance, restoration or replacement”.
What connects Tocantins to Maranhão is proof that this network does not work — at least not as it should. that the structure was in precarious condition. If the authorities on both sides of the divide were unable to take any action, it is a case of finding out what they are doing there.
Dnit regional superintendencies have always been coveted positions in the job market that connects different governments to their allied bases. Accommodating a sponsored person in a local office of the organization means gaining influence in the delivery of works and in large contracts, good assets for those seeking electoral results or non-republican interests.
Political indications are the general rule for occupying spaces. Deputies, senators and parties can adopt career civil servants appointed to superintendencies or choose outsiders to fill the vacancies. There are records of this tradition in the two states connected by the tragedy last Sunday (22), without leaving out the government of Jair Bolsonaro and the current administration of Lula.
The imbalance in political appetite explains part of a comprehensive tragedy, which affects the management of critical areas such as infrastructure. The priorities in the distribution of parliamentary amendments are another example. Throughout the year, deputies and senators indicated only 0.3% of this generous budget for the Ministry of Transport. Twenty times more money was directed to tourism and sports projects.
Congress did not tear down the bridge, and no single government bears sole responsibility for the disaster. The case, nevertheless, offers a reminder of the distortions caused by the increasingly poor arrangement of the open market for positions and amendments that gives a crooked stability to presidents and parliamentarians of different party colors.
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