GOVERNMENT DATA CAMUFLAGES DELAYS IN PAC WORKS

The federal government has distorted balance sheets to cover up delays in the main works of its Accelerated Growth Program – Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento, say Eduardo Scolese and Ranier Bragon. Looking at the first PAC balance sheets, 75% of the works are behind schedule – some of which were extended with official stamps and the word “adequate”.

The deadlines for some works have been extended on the report and others still appear to be on schedule, even if only partially so.

There are cases in which the conclusion of the work is left for the next government, division of work projects to hide the delays, and delayed works simply being left out of the figures.

The federal government has provided some questionable data on its official balance sheet to hide the delays in its main PAC projects. The original schedules for three of the four projects highlighted in the first balance sheet for the program have not been met.

Launched in 2007, with the aim of stimulating the domestic economy, the Accelerated Growth Program is currently used by President Lula to show the management capacity of Minister Dilma Rousseff (Chief of Staff). The PT’s official pre-candidate in the presidential election this year, has been called the “PAC Mother” by Lula,

At the end of last month, Dilma released the balance sheet for the three years the program has been running, stating that 40% of the projects had been finalized to date, and 36% of the main works had been completed.

However, this official and extremely detailed document leaves out the bottlenecks in the calendar: with a number of projects stamped in green with the word “adequate”, with a few exceptions of works stamped in yellow (“require attention”) and red (“of concern”).

The distortion of information is clear when comparing this balance sheet with the first released in May 2007, and the eight following it. In all these, many of the projects stamped green have had their targets revised and terms extended, and some have even been officially postponed until the next government takes office.

The government has made no mention of these facts on any of the balance sheets. Over and above the fact that works that have been extended are still stamped green, the official balance sheets also show various other cover-up maneuvers.

One of these is dividing the work into a part that can be finalized within the original time frame, leaving the remainder for finalization at a later (unspecified) date. Other works have had their original schedules maintained, but the objective has been altered: rather than conclusion of a physical work, the target has been altered to “delivery of the project”, which may still be on the drawing board for all we know.

Furthermore, there are cases of a delayed project simply disappearing from the balance sheets.

The first official PAC balance sheet refers to the four months between January and April of 2007, and includes 76 significant works and actions, all with established targets and deadlines. Looking at this document and comparing it with the later balance sheets – particularly the last one, during the three years the program has been up and running, 75% of these works (57) have been delayed, and 11 postponed until the next government takes office in January 2011.

Of the 57 projects that have failed to comply with their initial targets, 38 are still underway. The new schedule indicates an average delay of one and a half years in relation to what was originally promised in 2007, although the government has only stamped six (16%) of these either green or yellow.

The government states that the system of using stamps is only one way of indicating the execution risk associated with a project and attributes the delays to factors such as rain, problems obtaining the required permits and licenses and adaptations to the original projects.

Of the works the government promised to deliver on time is the Salto Pilão Hydroelectric Plant (SC), the Paulínea Petrochemcial Complex (SP) and the Frade Field, in the Campos Basin.
On announcing the pre-candidacy of Dilma at the PT party convention last month, Lula praised the way in which the PAC program was developing. “I can state that never in the history of this country has there been an infrastructure investment program so well organized, discussed and planned as we have done with the PAC.” No mention of execution….