THE STATE GOVERNOR BAHIA NEEDS

Fernando Alcoforado*

This article aims to present the profile of the State Governor that Bahia needs in the current historical moment. Bahia needs a governor who is able to solve its gigantic social problems that have worsened in recent years with the vertiginous increase in unemployment, hunger and misery of the population, overcome the existing weaknesses in its public health and basic sanitation systems. and restructure them on new bases to meet the needs of the population, solve the gigantic problems that affect basic education and higher education to meet the needs of the population and the productive sectors, reactivate the Bahian economy that has been in deep crisis in recent years promoting the economic development of Bahia on new bases, reduce its regional development imbalances to contribute to the development of the Bahian economy and adopting preventive measures to face extreme events of nature to avoid their harmful consequences for the population and the economy of Bahia. This article aims to guide its readers to make the most appropriate choice of the future Governor of the State of Bahia.

Faced with the extreme gravity of the social situation of the population of Bahia, the future Governor of the State of Bahia to be chosen should be the one who prioritizes the immediate solution of the gigantic social problems that have affected the population of Bahia for several years, represented by mass unemployment (5.847 million unemployed and 5.970 million are discouraged), the loss of income of the population (791 thousand people no longer have work income), the high housing deficit (555,635 households) that especially affects the low-income population, the precarious situation of the homeless population (20 thousand inhabitants) and the endemic hunger suffered by the poor population of Bahia (987 thousand people may have lived with hunger in 2019).

In addition to prioritizing the immediate solution of the gigantic social problems, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must make efforts to promote the improvement of the public health system and the basic sanitation system, with greater investments to eliminate their weaknesses in order to protect disease population and, above all, deal with current and future pandemics. Bahia has fewer hospital beds than indicated by the World Health Organization. There are not enough health posts that have serious structural and funding problems. Bahia was the state that invested the least per capita resources in the health system in 2020, even with the pandemic of the new Coronavirus. Bahia has insufficient water supply (81.13% of households are served), in sanitary sewage (only 54.1% % of households are served), in urban rainwater drainage (only 13.41% of municipalities have urban drainage service), in actions related to solid waste (24.7% of the houses are served in garbage collection and seven out of ten municipalities don’t have landfills) and in the control of disease-transmitting vectors. Of the 417 municipalities in Bahia, 366 have a water supply system and 122 have sewage collection and treatment services. Bahia has a great deficiency in water supply, especially in the semi-arid region, which is characterized by water scarcity.

The future Governor of the State of Bahia must make efforts to eliminate the weaknesses of the State’s basic and higher education system. Bahia has the highest illiteracy rate in the country in 2019, points out IBGE with 13% of the Bahian population over 15 years old not knowing how to read or write (1.5 million illiterates). Bahia is the eighth state in Brazil in terms of illiteracy rate. Bahia has the second lowest investment per student in basic education in the state system in Brazil. The low investment has affected the performance of education in Bahia, historically below other public networks in Brazil and even in the Northeast. Bahia has weaknesses due to the low investment made in both basic and higher education. The lack of working conditions in schools is a constant complaint from state education professionals. In higher education in Bahia, in the MEC and Times ranking of universities in Brazil in 2021, the best-positioned university in Bahia, UFBA, ranked 17th, far from the best universities. In 2018, the government of Bahia invested BRL 1.359 billion in state higher education, reaching the third position in the national ranking of the states that most allocated funds to the segment.

The future Governor of the State of Bahia must promote its economic development to raise the employment and income levels of the population, seeking to reverse the economic downturn registered since 2017, when Bahia was the seventh state that suffered the most decline, with 8.9%, surpassing the national average, which fell by 7.2% in two years. Bahia’s GDP, which was the sixth largest in the country, lost its share in the national ranking, being surpassed by Santa Catarina when it dropped to 7th position. Bahia underwent a process of deindustrialization because the Bahian industry “shrank” from 27.1% of total GDP in 2010 to 21.5% in 2018 and 21.8% in 2019. There was a loss of competitiveness of the petrochemical industry and the departure of Ford, which left a trail of unemployment and devastation in the economy of Camaçari. Bahian exports, which represented 4.6% of total Brazilian exports in 2012, reached only 3.6% of the total in 2016 and Bahia, which occupied the 8th position in the ranking of the largest exporting states, was surpassed by Santa Catarina.Bahia also lost its position in tourism, one of the main activities of the state’s productive base.

The future Governor of the State of Bahia must promote the overcoming of regional development imbalances in Bahia, which presents three major problems, which are detailed below: 1) Excessive economic concentration in the RMS – Metropolitan Region of Salvador; 2) Economic regression in the development of the cocoa region; 3) Underdevelopment of the semi-arid region. The trajectory that the Bahian economy followed from the second half of the 20th century led to its economic and spatial concentration in Bahia. Since this period, there has been no effort by the State government to decentralize the development process in Bahia. The emphasis was on increasing industrialization in the RMS in the expectation that its effects would reach all of Bahia. In the history of Bahia, there was no integrated development plan that covered all regions of the state. The actions taken were basically punctual and not systemic. The future Governor of the State of Bahia must prepare systemic and strategic development plans for the State as a whole and for each region, aiming at the economic integration of all regions that never existed in the past. Only in this way will it be possible to reduce the imbalance that currently exists in the development of the various regions of Bahia.

The future Governor of the State of Bahia must adopt preventive measures in the face of extreme events of nature resulting from global climate changes as they are currently occurring and will occur in the future in Bahia. The occurrence of floods in Brazilian cities has been recurrent due to intense rains, such as the one that happened recently in Bahia, leaving a trail of 20 dead, 31,000 homeless and destruction that affected 116 Bahian municipalities. This event, like others that took place in other cities and states in Brazil, reveals the incompetence and irresponsibility of public authorities in not adopting preventive measures to deal with extreme weather events. It is not necessary to demonstrate that the flood causes many extremely negative impacts. It damages property and endangers the lives of humans and other living beings. Some high and prolonged flooding can compromise vehicular traffic in areas that are not at high level. Flooding can interfere with drainage and economic land use. Structural damage can occur to bridge and viaduct pillars, water and sewage systems, power systems and other structures located in the flood area. The financial losses due to floods are incalculable, in addition to serious public health problems.

The future Governor of the State of Bahia must, therefore, focus his strategy on: 1) the solution of its gigantic social problems; 2) improving the public health system and the basic sanitation system; 3) in overcoming education problems; 4) in promoting economic development; 5) in reducing regional development imbalances; and, 6) in facing extreme events of nature. It is worth noting that overcoming social problems and meeting the health and education needs of the Bahian population would also contribute to reducing crime indicators, which are quite high in Bahia.

In the solution of the gigantic social problems of Bahia, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must strive to increase employment with guaranteed labor rights promoting the reactivation of the Bahian economy, in social assistance to the unemployed and in the increase of currently degraded income of the population with an income transfer program to needy populations complementary to that of the federal government, to make it possible for the poor population to have access to their own homes with a popular housing program with the necessary infrastructure, to meet the needs of homeless populations with a consistent social assistance program and in overcoming the endemic hunger suffered by the population of Bahia with a program to combat hunger, aligning itself with the candidate for president of the Republic who is committed to solving all social ills unresolved by the various state governments and to eradicating country all neoliberal measures contrary to the interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.

In improving the public health system and the basic sanitation system, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must increase investment in public health which has been insufficient to strengthen the public health system to guarantee access to the best possible care for citizens and increase the fight against the spread of the new coronavirus, promoting the vaccination of the largest possible number of people, as well as increasing the level of investment in basic sanitation, aiming at a greater supply of drinking water for the population, sanitary sewage services and garbage collection aligning itself with the candidate for president of the Republic who is committed to reversing all social ills unresolved by the various state governments in the field of public health and basic sanitation and to eradicating from the country all neoliberal measures contrary to the interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.

In improving the public health system and of sanitation system, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must increase investment in public health to strengthen the public health system to guarantee access to the best possible care for citizens and increase the fight against the spread of the new Coronavirus promoting the vaccination of the largest possible number of people, as well as increasing the level of investment aiming at a greater supply of drinking water for the population, sanitary sewage and garbage collection services, aligning with the candidate for President of the Republic who is committed to reversing all social ills unresolved by the various state governments in the field of public health and basic sanitation and to eradicating from the country all contrary neoliberal measures to the interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.

In overcoming the problems of education, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must make greater investment that has been insufficient to restructure the education system in Bahia from early childhood education to higher education, inspired by the successful educational policies practiced in the education systems of Finland, South Korea, Japan, Switzerland and also the United States. The future Governor of the State of Bahia must align himself with the candidate for President of the Republic who is committed to solving all social ills unresolved by the various governments of the State in the field of education and to eradicate from the country all neoliberal measures contrary to the interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.

In promoting economic development, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must prepare a systemic and strategic development plan that covers the whole of Bahia, which is formulated together with representatives of the productive sectors, municipalities and organized Civil Society, aiming at raising the levels of employment and income of the population. This plan must provide Bahia with a development strategy that ensures the development of each municipality, each region and the State of Bahia as a whole, and further integrates Bahia’s economy with the Northeast region and with the country. Besides, in promoting economic and social development, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must act in coordination with the future President of the Republic, who is committed to reversing all economic ills unresolved by the various State governments and to eradicate from the country all measures neoliberal policies contrary to the interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.

In order to reduce regional development imbalances, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must prepare systemic and strategic development plans for the State as a whole and for each region, strengthen and integrate Bahia’s growth and development poles (Salvador, Camaçari, Feira de Santana, Vitória da Conquista, Itapetinga, Lençóis, Jequié, Ilhéus, Itabuna, Porto Seguro, Eunápolis, Teixeira de Freitas, Juazeiro, Irecê, Guanambi, Bom Jesus da Lapa, Barreiras, among others) to be linked together, by roads (roads, railroads and waterways), take advantage of the endogenous development potential of each municipality and each region and enable their economic interconnections and with other regions in Brazil and abroad, promote the integration of the São Francisco River basins with the basins of the other existing rivers in Bahia and the implantation of dams in strategic points of its territory to eliminate or reduce the water scarcity of the semiarid region, make the industry in Bahia less dependent on that of São Paulo with the expansion of the local processing industry, to make the government of the state of Bahia operate as a State in Network in order to ensure the integration in the actions of all public organizations in the implementation of strategic development plans, make efforts with the federal government to offer fiscal and financial incentives for the development of backward regions and offer fiscal and financial incentives from the State government for the development of regions late. The future Governor of the State of Bahia must align himself with the candidate for President of the Republic who is committed to reversing all the unresolved evils of the various governments in the field of regional development and to eradicate from the country all neoliberal measures contrary to the interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.

In the face of extreme events of nature, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must adopt measures aimed at controlling floods caused by heavy rains and by the rise in ocean levels because of climate change. In order to deal with floods caused by heavy rains, engineering works must be carried out, adopting actions to regulate the use and occupation of the soil and environmental education of the population, use flood warning and forecasting systems, establish zoning and the respective regulation for the construction, among other measures. With the rise in sea level, engineering works must be carried out and populations located in risk areas must be relocated, as well as changes in the energy matrix and in the transport matrix, with the abandonment of the use of fossil fuels and their replacement by renewable sources of energy (solar, wind, biomass, hydrogen, among others) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. To succeed in achieving these goals, it is important that the federal government and the government of Bahia act in a coordinated manner in the fight against climate change to ensure that the Paris Agreement is effectively implemented. The future Governor of the State of Bahia must align himself with the candidate for President of the Republic who is committed to reversing all the unresolved evils by the various governments in facing extreme events of nature, combating climate change and eradicating from the country all measures neoliberal policies contrary to the interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.

These are, therefore, the 6 strategies that the future Governor of Bahia should adopt to face the problems that affect Bahia at the present time. In order to succeed in executing these strategies, the candidate for Governor of Bahia who decides to implement them should collaborate with the election of the candidate for President of the Republic and the federal and state parliamentary candidates who are committed to reversing all the unresolved evils by the different governments in the past and to eradicate from the country all neoliberal measures contrary to the interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990. In other words, the future Governor of Bahia needs to count on the support of the future President of the Republic and with a parliamentary majority in the National Congress and the Legislative Assembly of Bahia to put the 6 proposed strategies into practice. These are the conditions for the candidate for Governor of the State of Bahia to be worthy of the trust of the suffering people of Bahia and to win the next government elections.

* Fernando Alcoforado, 82, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is author of the books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018), Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019) and A humanidade ameaçada e as estratégias para sua sobrevivência (Editora Dialética, São Paulo, 2021) .