The work on the Fonte Nova stadium, that shall be the World Cup venue in Salvador, have received their financing from the BNDES blocked by the State Audit Court (Tribunal de Contas do Estado - TCE) due to the lack of detailed projects. Even so, the advancement of the construction is obvious, with the structural pillars starting to appear.
According to information supplied by José Luiz Góes, the engineering director of the consortium by the name of the Consórcio Fonte Nova Negócios e Participações - FNP), responsible for the project, 18% of the construction is already finished. This is thanks to the financing of R$ 50 million from Desenbahia and resources from OAS and Odebrecht, shareholders of FNP.
Behind the scenes in Government circles, the fear is that the work may stop at any moment, as this would mean that the time frame for delivery of the equipment – set at December 2012 – may not be met. This, due to the lack of clearance of the transfer of R$ 323 million, which has been financed by the BNDES for this consortium.
“We work with the possibility of feasibility of the financial flow in the short term, both for shareholders as also for the financing banks, so that there may be the guarantee of the continuity of the work schedule”, Mr. Góes declared.
As the Bahian Government has not delivered the executive project of the Fonte Nova Stadium, the TCU has contingencied the resources. In addition, the cost of this project, which until then had been budgeted at R$ 591.7 million, may now have a price tag as high as R$ 835 million, according to an analysis carried out by the Federal Financial Control Office (Controladoria Geral da União - CGU).
The discrepancy of values is also criticized by the TCE, and may only be confirmed with the presentation of the complete spreadsheets for this work project.
According to Mr. Góes, the executive project has suffered updates throughout the work project. “This is normal for a project with the characteristics of the Arena Fonte Nova, which is constantly being updated for the compliance with the requirements set by FIFA. In addition, the public-private partnership allows things to be like this”.
The forecast is that the BNDES shall take a position this coming Tuesday about the authorization of the financing. Even without access to the executive project, the TCE in May authorized the clearance of funds totaling R$ 64 million, but the transfer has not yet been made.
Progress of the Work
While waiting for the clearance of the funds, work presses on. All the demolition work and some 95% of land leveling have now been completed. If the companies keep to the schedule and if the funds are indeed released, then the expectations are that the physical progress of the work should hit 43% by the end of the year.
“We are entering the final stages of the foundations, such as the laying of stakes, execution of the crowning blocks thereof, and also the execution of the foundation of the foundation footing of the North sector”, says Mr. Góes.
Following the proposed schedule for the work project, the next phases are the assembly of the pillars and the pre-molded beams, as also the concrete structure that shall need to be molded on site. “The concrete is produced at a factory assembled on the work site itself, and is then subjected to a resistance test”, explains Mr. Góes.
The work site of the arena has some 750 workers and 200 units of equipment in operation, including nine pile drivers, four cranes, three hoists of high capacity and one concrete dosing center.
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14/02 | News
