For experts, investing in prevention could avert disaster

June 24, 2010

By Adriana Caitano

Last year, Brazil has been the victim of natural disasters, in number of deaths can not be compared to the effects of hurricanes and earthquakes. But they have left a trail of destruction. The difference is that here, the assassin is cyclical and that time has more or less pre-set to reach: the rain.

Experts consulted by VEJA.com say that, far from being prepared, the country seems to always be caught by surprise. One of the symptoms of not being prepared for them, is that the government immediately rush to allocate emergency funding to the affected areas, but hardly spend the resources available to prevent the effects of flooding? which would bring cheaper and less suffering for the victims.


One survey this week by the NGO Open Accounts reported that the National Integration Ministry has used only 14% of 508.3 million reais earmarked for disaster prevention and preparedness in 2010. Already the program of reconstruction and disaster response received from January to June, 535 million reais. That is, the expenses to remedy the problem were seven times larger than preventive.

The NGO also reported that Alagoas, one of the most punished by the rain, not a penny in 2010 for actions to prevent disasters like that hit 27 cities in the state last Friday. Pernambuco, where 54 cities were affected, was only 0.24% of total funding. Meanwhile, 56.85% of the country's resources went to the Bahia state - where the former minister of national integration Geddel Vieira, who left office in late March, intends to dispute the government.

Report - In April this year, the Court of Audit (TCU) made an audit of the National Secretariat of Civil Defense and found that there is no transparency or agility in the execution of the organ. The report noted that the resources approved to help those cities affected by disasters take on average 98 days to get to the bank account of the municipality and distribution have not been following technical criteria clear: from 2004 to 2009, 55.1% of the total budget for the disaster prevention was concentrated in Bahia, Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso.

After the findings, the court recommended that the department "adopt and disseminate objective criteria for the allocation of resources for preventive work in order to ensure they are allocated in areas that pose a higher risk and help to mitigate the human and material losses resulting from events adverse natural. " Marinus Attorney Edward Marsico, public prosecutor at TCU, remember that the court may require the return of resources shows that when there was injury to the public treasury or breach of the rules. "What is possible is to give recommendations for improved budget planning, but if they were being followed, none of this would be happening," he laments.

The specialist in public administration from the University of Brasília (UnB), José Matias Pereira, believes that since these natural phenomena are cyclical, there is efficient investment in a prevention program, with works that have start and finish, wear to society would be lower. "Problems of collapse of slopes, for example, are predicted by studies in universities well in advance, public managers is that they refuse to see the need to avoid this, they always take the stance of pushing with the belly, as if nothing was happens, happens but an hour and they chase after, "he criticizes.

24/06/2010




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