Saneamento básico no Tocantins: uma avaliação do planejamento da política pública a partir dos planos municipais

Abstract

With the enactment of the Basic Sanitation Regulatory Framework, Brazil was encouraged to adopt a regionalized approach, aiming to achieve universal access to sanitation services through compliance with established guidelines and objectives. During the period in which the main regulations on the subject were enacted, several regions of the country still presented precarious conditions with regard to water supply, sewage, urban cleaning, solid waste management and rainwater drainage. In this context, this study sought to evaluate the Municipal Basic Sanitation Plans (PMSB) of the municipalities of the State of Tocantins, considering their compliance with the specifications established by the National Sanitation Policy, instituted by Federal Law No. 11,445/2007, and their role in the planning phase of the internalization of this public policy at the local level. The research adopted a descriptive methodology and quantitative approach, analyzing the PMSB of the 139 municipalities of Tocantins. To collect data, an instrument was developed based on the guidelines of the decree regulating the legal framework for basic sanitation in Brazil. The information was initially obtained through searches on the internet, on city hall websites and on the Infosanbas platform. In addition, requests for access to information were made to municipal ombudsman offices. The analysis revealed a worrying scenario regarding the formulation and implementation of public sanitation policies in the state. Although federal legislation requires the plans to be mandatory, it was found that only 66 municipalities (47.5%) have published their PMSB, while 73 (52.5%) have not yet complied with this requirement. This reality reflects the persistence of significant challenges in the universalization of basic sanitation, an essential right of the population and a determining factor for public health and sustainable development. From the systematization of the data, it was observed that the arithmetic mean of the Municipal Indexes was 0.2783, indicating a significant deficit in the adequacy of the municipalities of Tocantins to the federal guidelines for basic sanitation planning. The low state index can be attributed, in large part, to the high number of municipalities that obtained a zero score, that is, those that do not have a PMSB or that did not meet any of the criteria analyzed. The predominance of municipalities without structured planning highlights the urgency of implementing measures to reverse this situation. The correlation of the IM with IBGE data on GDP per capita, urbanized area, percentage of population served by adequate sanitation and the IDHM of the municipalities of Tocantins, revealed the weak relevance of these factors in the preparation of plans, demonstrating that the mere formalization of plans without implementation, monitoring and evaluation of actions does not effectively contribute to improving the population's quality of life. Therefore, it is essential to create mechanisms for continuous monitoring and reevaluation of plans, ensuring that municipalities gradually advance in adapting to federal legislation, thus promoting advances in the management of basic sanitation in the state.