Baixada seeks infrastructure solutions for the pre-salt layer
DCI
The municipalities of the Metropolitan Region of the Baixada Santista accelerate the dialogues on the organization of the local infrastructure, because the resolution of such bottlenecks in those cities becomes more urgent with the arrival of Petrobras, with the pre-salt operations, besides the implementation of the expansion plan in the Port of Santos. The estimate is that R$ 20 billion (US$ 11 billion) should be injected within the next four years, not only in the projects in the port and in those connected to the exploration of oil and gas in the area, but also in works aimed at the urban mobility and logistics, for airports and sanitation.
In order for the municipalities of the metropolitan center - Santos, São Vicente, Cubatão, Guarujá, Mongaguá, Itanhaém, Praia Grande, Peruíbe and Bertioga - to be able to take advantage of the development and business opportunities both of the public and of the private sectors, entrepreneurs, associations and the Government outline the future according to the new reality and resume old demands, like the by tunnel or bridge connection between Santos and Guarujá, under discussion four at least 60 years. For this case, the State Government has a study for the construction of a cable-stayed bridge underway.
Even if some solutions are still only on the paper, others follow under the stage of enablement, as the Baixada Santista's Metropolitan Integrated System (SIM, in Portuguese), a light rail vehicle (LRV) project that, in its first stage of implementation, should consume nearly R$ 298 million (US$ 165.6 million). In the sanitation area, the Basic Sanitation Company of the State of Sao Paulo (Sabesp) plans on spending a little more than R$ 1.6 billion (US$ 888.9 million) in projects of water supply and sewage treatment.
Although the sudden development requires quick answers to the region bottlenecks, the new situation may also generate good deals for the companies. To give an idea, Petrobras will invest nearly US$ 40 billion in the Basin of Santos until 2013, and its activities should generate opportunities in the local market, such as the future installation of three commercial towers in a region of the Baixada Santista known as Valongo, in order to host an office of the company and approximately six thousand employees. The undertaking should generate a public bid to erect the buildings within the next years.
Among the issues of this region that require a solution is also the improvement of the airport structure. There are three smaller-sized airports at the Baixada Santista, like the airport of Guarujá, located in a military area, but that may also receive civil operations in the future; the airport of Itanhaém and a third airport in Praia Grande. There are more demands under discussion at the Baixada region, like the improvements of road and railroad accesses, besides demands in the areas of housing and urbanism. The idea is to allow the planned development in order to be able to meet the future demand.