The acting governor of Rio, judge Ricardo Couto, blocked the release of R$730 million that would be transferred to 16 municipalities in the interior, for paving and slope containment works. The money would be taken from the state’s Sovereign Fund, a type of “public savings” created from revenues from oil and natural gas exploration. The transfer had been authorized by former governor Cláudio Castro on the last day of government, on the eve of announcing his resignation, at the end of March.
The fund was created in 2022 to protect the state of Rio de Janeiro from the instability and volatility of the oil market, and its use would be restricted to medium and long-term investments in structural projects in health, education and infrastructure.
According to information from g1 and RJ2, the council responsible for the fund met around 6pm on March 23, at Palácio Guanabara, moments before Cláudio Castro received guests to say goodbye to the government and sent the resignation report to the Legislative Assembly (Alerj). The high expense and the time at which the meeting was held – when the Cláudio Castro government’s lights were out – raised the suspicion of the acting governor, judge Ricardo Couto, who decided to suspend the projects.
In a note sent by the state’s office, acting governor Ricardo Couto stated that he was not informed about the matter at the time and that, for now, there will be no release of resources from the Sovereign Fund. The projects presented by the areas will be analyzed by the technical bodies of the new government.
Cities that would be included
As g1 showed, the projects would be allocated to three departments, which would encompass actions in 16 municipalities in the North, Northwest, South, Serranas and Lagos regions. The Cities Secretariat would receive the highest amount, R$250 million, to carry out a single project without an informed allocation. The department was headed by deputy Douglas Ruas, elected president of Alerj last week and nominated by the PL as Castro’s successor.
The Department of Highways (DER) would receive R$ 248.1 million to carry out seven projects in the cities of Natividade, Rio das Flores, Angra dos Reis, Rio Claro, Valença, São Sebastião do Alto. The Secretariat of Infrastructure and Public Works, in turn, would receive R$232.5 million, for 10 projects, one in each city (Araruama, Cantagalo, Conceição de Macabu, Cordeiro, Macuco, Paty do Alferes, Petrópolis, Rio das Ostras, São José do Vale do Rio Preto, Volta Redonda).
Continues after advertising
Sequence of cuts
Since taking office as interim governor, on March 24, Ricardo Couto has made a series of cuts and dismissals in the state machine. In less than a month, he dismissed 638 employees, and abolished three sub-secretariats: Special Projects, Gastronomy and Community Actions and Entrepreneurship.
The latest wave of dismissals took place this Monday, in an extraordinary edition of the Official Gazette: 94 employees linked to the government’s administrative area were dismissed. The biggest cuts were made in the Government Secretariat. According to the department itself, the accumulated annual savings are already close to R$ 30 million annually, R$ 8 million from this Monday’s actions alone.
The State Government also reported that, as in previous stages, the survey identified functional inconsistencies in the cases analyzed, such as the lack of access records to internal systems and the lack of institutional accreditation, which led to the dismissals. The note also clarifies that the measures are part of the set of audits underway in the State Government, which foresees the review of administrative structures and contracts, with a focus on improving management and the responsible use of public resources.
