The Court of Auditors of the Municipality of São Paulo (TCMSP) will investigate irregularities in the funeral services provided by the concessionaires after the privatization of the sector in the capital of São Paulo. Four private consortia, winners of the bidding, took over, since the last 7th, the management, maintenance, operation, revitalization and expansion of 22 cemeteries and public crematorium in the municipality of São Paulo. Among the problems detected by the TCM are the lack of provision, by the concessionaires, of free burial for low-income families; as well as the non-availability of the social funeral – which can be requested by any resident of the municipality and has a fixed price of R$ 566.04. A technical panel was called by the TCM with the invitation of the Public Services Regulatory Agency of the Municipality of São Paulo (SPRegula), of the São Paulo City Hall. “The technical board is being called together with the main person responsible for overseeing the execution of the concession, which is SPRegula. As the name implies, it is the municipal body for regulating public-private partnerships. It is in charge of supervising the execution of the concession contracts”, highlights the TCM counselor, rapporteur for the topic, Maurício Faria. According to the advisor, the TCM investigation was motivated by a series of irregularities, but mainly by the case of a low-income couple who did not receive the right to free burial of a stillborn baby. “The parents were people of low income and would have the right to gratuity and they were not attended to in this way”, he said. “It was a serious case because the pain of that couple who had lost their baby and who were left without care at that very difficult time was recorded,” he added. According to Faria, TCM will seek answers from SPRegula on the concessionaires’ non-compliance with the terms of the privatization contract – which provided for gratuity for low-income people, and the social funeral. “We want the vision of SPRegula and the funeral service to be presented regarding these irregularities that have already been verified, they are registered facts, existing facts. Will have to be considered and answered, why did this happen? And, above all, what is the plan so that irregularities do not happen again, the plan for monitoring contractual execution?”, he questioned. According to the counselor, the disclosure made by the city hall about the service after the privatization of the city’s funeral sector is flawed and does not make clear the rights of those who need the service. “If you go to the city hall website, in this field of funeral services, it is flawed, there is no didactic step-by-step, of course. And, once this information is given, these concession rules must be complied with”. All residents of the capital of São Paulo, without exception, can request the social funeral, in the amount of R$ 566.04, which entitles them to a coffin or funerary urn, transportation, ceremonial for the wake, rent of the wake room for a minimum period of two hours, burial, and exhumation. Anyone who proves to be a member of the deceased’s family, with a per capita monthly family income of up to half a minimum wage, or a monthly family income of up to three minimum wages, as well as having a valid and up-to-date registration in the Single Registry, may qualify for the right to free burial. (CadUnique); or have been registered in the Homeless Citizens Assistance System in the last 12 months. The family member who proves the donation of the deceased’s bodily organs is also entitled to gratuity. Investigation request Councilman Toninho Véspoli (PSOL) forwarded a request for action to the state Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) and the Municipal Court of Auditors (TCM) asking for inspection of irregularities in the services of the concessionaires that operate in the city’s funeral service. “Apparently, the concessionaires are coercing socioeconomically vulnerable people to pay fees that reach up to R$ 900, under the threat that their loved one will not be entitled to a dignified burial”, says the text of the document. “Even if the free burial of people whose family members are unable to pay the expenses of services involving burials are guaranteed in laws, decrees and municipal resolutions, the concessionaires continue to cause suffering to the most needy”, he adds. The report contacted SPRegula, from the São Paulo City Hall, and is awaiting a response. According to the municipal administration, the concessionaires are responsible for emergency works, mainly those aimed at restoring roofs, energy networks, lighting and ventilation, sanitary networks, mainly the part of bathrooms and drinking fountains, adjustments in the facilities of administrations and agencies. funeral homes, with the installation of computer equipment, paintings and furniture. The service sector will continue to be assisted by the Funeral Service of the Municipality of São Paulo (SFMSP) until January 2024, when the companies fully assume the activity, under the supervision of SPRegula. Funeral services concession contracts will be valid for 25 years. According to the municipal administration, the concessions should generate around R$ 2.16 billion in economic benefits for the city, including the payment of grants, investments and municipal taxes.
Agência Brasil
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