The Logo Caruaruense company, owned by the father of the governor of Pernambuco, (), operated irregularly and without supervision for at least three years in the state.
The case was revealed by the Metrópoles website and confirmed by Sheet. Official documents point to irregularities such as the lack of payment of mandatory fees and the lack of annual vehicle inspections from 2023 to 2026. The operation of the lines is a state concession.
The governor told the Diário de Pernambuco newspaper this Friday (16) that her father’s company will leave the intercity transport lines for which it is responsible by the end of the month.
Supervision of intercity passenger transport is the responsibility of EPTI (Empresa Pernambucana de Transporte Coletivo Intermunicipal), an agency linked to the Secretariat of Mobility and Infrastructure. The folder is controlled by .
In a note, EPTI stated that the company Logo is the successor of the company Caruarense, which has operated the system for the last 66 years and was the winner of the tender in 2014.
“In 2015, decisions by the Court of Auditors and the Judiciary determined that the contracts were not signed, which led the licensed companies to continue providing the service in the format prior to the formation of the consortium. In 2022, the Court of Justice considered the bidding to be regular and, since then, EPTI has been working with the sector and control bodies to make necessary adjustments, in a transition process, depending on the passage of time”, he informed.
EPTI also said that it “carries out inspections at bus terminals, embarkation and disembarkation points and other strategic locations such as city entrances and exits as a continuous and permanent action.”
When questioned, the Government of Pernambuco stated “that it does not interfere in the technical performance of the State’s inspection and regulatory bodies”. “EPTI is responsible for regulating and supervising intercity passenger transport, acting based on technical and legal criteria, without any type of distinction or differentiated treatment.”
Logo Caruaruense was contacted, but did not respond to the report.
When questioned, the Government of Pernambuco stated that the governor’s cousin “has been in office for just over six months and has already held several meetings with the sector to implement the transition plan for Pernambuco’s intermunicipal transport, as determined by court”.
EPTI’s technical report shows that Logo Caruaruense has 50 registered buses, all of which have expired mandatory inspections. The last inspection of the fleet took place in 2022, before Raquel Lyra took office, and since then no vehicle has undergone a new technical assessment.
According to state legislation, intercity transport companies must submit buses to an annual inspection and maintain the CRC (Certificate of Cadastral Registration) up to date, necessary for authorization to circulate.
In addition to irregular documentation, reports and reports point to security problems in Logo Caruaruense collectives. Images recorded by passengers showed seats in which it was not possible to fasten the seat belt and tires in inadequate conditions of use.
In light of these failures, EPTI initiated an administrative procedure to evaluate the renewal of the company’s registration. Internal orders requested the verification of tax debts, administrative pending issues and a legal analysis of the feasibility of maintaining the concession.
The process, however, is at a standstill, awaiting documents that were not sent by Logo Caruaruense.
The governor was part of the corporate structure of Logo Caruaruense until 2018, when she transferred her shares to her father, João Lyra Neto, 74. In a statement, the Government of Pernambuco said that “there has never been political-administrative favoritism in relation to the company Logo Caruaruense”.
The firm’s current partners are João Lyra, the governor’s mother, Mércia Lyra, and her sister Nara Lyra. Businessman João Lyra Neto has a long career in politics. He was vice-governor of Pernambuco alongside Eduardo Campos between 2007 and April 2014, when he took over state management after Campos resigned to run for President of the Republic. He was also mayor of Caruaru and state deputy.
