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The City of Rio Branco officially spoke on Friday (4) to clarify the suspicions that fall on the recent bidding conducted by the Rio Branco Water and Sewage Service (Saerb) for the acquisition of Aluminum Polychloride (PAC), an essential substance in the water clarification process.
The Rio Branco City Hall officially spoken this Friday (4) to clarify the suspicions that fall on the recent bidding conducted by the water and sewage service./foto:reproduction
According to municipal management, the new model adopted with electronic trading has enabled wide national competition, resulting in the significant drop in the price of the input: from R $ 5.81 per kilo to R $ 3.95. The economy estimated only between 2024 and 2025 exceeds $ 10 million, according to official data.
Photo: Reproduction
The city criticized what it called “media stub” around the subject and stated that the judicialization of the process by one of the participating companies was unsuccessful. The 2nd Public Finance Court rejected and extinguished the writ of mandamus, reinforcing, according to the municipality, the legality of the event.
Another highlighted aspect was the technological advance promoted with the new bidding. In addition to the supply of PAC, the hiring included automated dosage systems in lending regime, with the objective of increasing product application efficiency and reducing operational losses.
Regarding the values cited by communication vehicles, the city contested the numbers and presented the actual data: although the bidding minutes bring a ceiling of R $ 22.1 million, the closed contract was R $ 18.7 million, with effective commitment to 2025 of only R $ 13.1 million less than half of the amount publicly released.
Justified and lower prices emergency acquisitions, says Saerb
Management also spoke about emergency purchases made during the rainy season, when increasing water turbidity required immediate actions. According to SAERB, these acquisitions followed all legal procedures and always prioritized the lowest price.
In one case, even, a company in the same group that questioned the regular bid was emergency for a higher value than an earlier competitor, which, in Saerb’s view, proves the absence of favoritism.
President of Saerb guarantees transparency and commitment to the public interest
The president of Saerb, Enoque Pereira, defended the smoothness of the whole process and stressed the gains obtained with the change of model:
“We were beyond a simple purchase. We are promoting a new public management standard, with cost reduction, modernization of systems and full commitment to transparency. The whole process was legal, technical and focused on the good of the population. We trust that the control bodies will confirm this with full clarity,” he said.
New model follows guidelines of the new bidding law
The city reported that the structure of the notice followed the parameters of Law No. 14.133/2021, and that the former face -to -face model was replaced after more than 25 years, which expanded the participation of companies from outside the state and provided better offers.
Finally, the Municipal Administration was made available to the Public Prosecution Service to provide any additional document or clarification. The goal, according to the official note, is to ensure quality treated water efficiently and responsibility for the use of public resources.
