Court decision ensures that municipalities comply with the Sanitation Concession Contract
The decision addresses an action by the Attorney General's Office and reinforces the validity of the regionalized basic sanitation concession provided for in State Complementary Law No. 171/2023
After an action filed by the Attorney General's Office (PGE), which requested the imposition for the municipality of Rondon do Pará not to impose barriers to the compliance with the Sanitation Concession Contract by the company Águas do Pará in the region, Judge Tainá Colares da Costa, from the 1st Civil and Business Court of the District of Rondon, recognized that the municipalities that are part of the Microregion of Water and Sewage of Pará (MRAE) must respect the contract signed by the State, allowing the immediate start of activities by the concessionaire.
The decision, issued this Wednesday (19), supports the State in the execution of this contract and reinforces the validity of the regionalized concession, in addition to determining that the municipalities refrain from creating any obstacles to the service provider's work.
“Some municipalities have tried to condition the start of services to local authorizations or the outcome of pending lawsuits. The Justice is expressly recognizing that municipalities are obliged to comply with the contract and respect the regionalized concession. This is important so that the objective of the contract, which is the universalization of sanitation in the State, is fulfilled without economic impact on the contract,” highlighted the Attorney General of the State Ana Carolina Gluck Paul.
In the decision, the judge states that State Complementary Law No. 171/2023, which establishes the Microregion of Water and Sewage of Pará (MRAE), is in full force and was enacted with constitutional backing. Thus, she emphasizes that no municipality can unilaterally disregard the norm or the contract, highlighting the presumption of constitutionality of the state legislation.
Signing of the Term – The municipality of Rondon do Pará had refused to sign the Transfer Term of the System, a necessary step for operation and investments, claiming the need for municipal legislative authorization and citing ongoing lawsuits. The Justice rejected the arguments, classifying the conduct as a strategy that could cause “concrete risk of economic-financial imbalance of the contract” and even tariff increases for the entire population of Block D.
The decision determined that the municipality immediately tolerate the start of work, ensure free access to reversible assets, and sign the transfer term at the beginning of the operation. In addition, it establishes a daily fine of R$ 10,000 in case of non-compliance.
According to prosecutor Gustavo Monteiro, one of the authors of the action, the decision reinforces the legal security necessary for the implementation of the concession and guarantees the advancement of the goals for the universalization of basic sanitation provided for in the new legal framework.
“The decision also signals to the other municipalities in the microregion that local resistance is not appropriate in the face of a regionalized model that has already been constitutionally validated and contracted definitively. In other words, municipalities are obliged to comply with this contract because it is valid and constitutional,” concluded the prosecutor.
The action, filed by the PGE, also had the involvement of the Civil, Administrative and Labor Prosecutor's Office (PCTA), through state prosecutors Napoleão Nicolau da Costa, Daniel Peracchi, and Carolina Massoud.
