Court Revokes Suspension of São Paulo’s Vale do Anhangabaú Works

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The state appellate court decided, on Friday, August 9th, to allow resumption of the São Paulo municipal public works in the Vale do Anhangabaú in the city center.

For the presiding judge of the São Paulo Appellate Court (TJ-SP), the suspension poses a risk to the public economy.

A week ago, a lower court had granted a request by the association “Preserva SP” to embargo the project to improve the area, due to the failure to discuss the works with the public in a location of historical significance for the city, and also due to the lack of an environmental and archaeological feasibility study.

At the same time, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office launched an inquiry to investigate the costs of the works.

The city government appealed the decision and provided answers to the queries, stating that the project was budgeted at R$3.8 million and was approved by all bodies in charge of preserving the municipality’s historical heritage, in addition to discussions with city councils.

On Friday, Judge Manoel de Queiroz Pereira Calças authorized the resumption of works, noting the financial loss that the suspension is causing to society as a whole. “Each day of suspension represents an estimated loss to the municipality of São Paulo of R$42,744.66, considering only the contractual costs related to the salaries of 108 employees and 38 mobilized equipment,” he said.

The judge also included a favorable opinion on the project by the Municipal Council for the Preservation of the Historical, Cultural and Environmental Heritage of the City (Conpresp) and the Council for the Defense of Historical, Archaeological, Artistic, and Touristic Heritage of the State (Condephaat), and further said that this had been discussed with society in a public presentation held in 2015, for instance.

“This work is not a hasty, stealthy intervention, which is particularly relevant given the inexistence of prior administrative or legal objections, at a time when losses to the municipality would have been much lower — contrary to what is now happening, when the work has already begun and the site has been made into an enormous construction site,” the judge wrote in his decision.