Cubatão City Council opposes to truck yard in the city

Next to the Mario Covas Viaduct in Cubatão, Ilha do Tatu (in the background of the photo, with trees) would be used for the new Port of Santos truck yard (Alexsander Ferraz/ AT)

The Cubatão City Council opposes to the installation of a truck parking facility with 800 spaces on the so-called Ilha do Tatu, next to the Mario Covas Viaduct, near the intersection of the Anchieta and Imigrantes highways. The Port Authority of Santos (APS) intends to launch a public tender in the coming days (the forecast was until last week) for the concession of an area of 530,000 square meters, with 100,000 square meters of the space intended for a parking in that region. The Cubatão Legislative Body issued an official statement expressing opposition to the project.

The council expressed that it "strongly opposes to the decision of the federal agency, which could impact the lives of 60,000 people, and advocates for a deeper discussion about the APS proposal, involving all sectors of society affected by the project, including the Municipal Administration, the Legislative Power, local residents and the Port Authority of Santos". It also emphasizes that "dialogue is always the best path to a democratic, republican decision-making process that serves to the public interest".

In a report published last week in A Tribuna, the mayor of Cubatão, Ademário Oliveira (PSDB), also expressed opposition to the creation of a truck regulating yard in that region and stated that the facility will impact residents in Ilha Caraguatá, Jardim Casqueiro, Parque São Luís and Vila dos Pescadores, who use the Anchieta and Imigrantes highways interchange daily as access to the neighborhoods.

International solution

While on a mission in Spain, APS' president Anderson Pomini said that he contacted port experts from the Valencia Port Foundation to seek technological solutions to organize truck traffic accessing the Port of Santos, as well as other logistical challenges involving operators, carriers, among other sectors.

Some of the innovations observed by Pomini during the technical visit are that "the Port of Valencia computerized all services on a platform of the Port Community System (PCS) Program in 2005, which includes assistance at sea, in the port and on land, involving 1,200 companies with over 300,000 messages per day".

Since 2017, he says, "all trucks, operators and carriers are connected through an application implemented by the ValenciaPort Foundation".

The Valencia Port Authority manages the ports of Valencia, which handles 68 million tons per year; Sagunto, with 8.96 million tons per year, and Gandia, with 196.8 thousand tons per year.

Connection with Brazil

APS also reported that "around one-third of the goods that transit between Brazil and Spain necessarily pass through the Port of Valencia". Thus, the city is considered a fundamental gateway between the two countries.

"For Brazil, the Valencia dock is the main route for exported national products, such as fish, fruits and meats – which either remain in Europe or are forwarded to other locations, such as North Africa".