This article aims to present the profile of the State Governor that Bahia needs in the current historical moment. Bahia needs a governor who is able to solve its gigantic social problems that have worsened in recent years with the vertiginous increase in unemployment, hunger and misery of the population, overcome the existing weaknesses in its public health and basic sanitation systems. and restructure them on new bases to meet the needs of the population, solve the gigantic problems that affect basic education and higher education to meet the needs of the population and the productive sectors, reactivate the Bahian economy that has been in deep crisis in recent years promoting the economic development of Bahia on new bases, reduce its regional development imbalances to contribute to the development of the Bahian economy and adopting preventive measures to face extreme events of nature to avoid their harmful consequences for the population and the economy of Bahia. This article aims to guide its readers to make the most appropriate choice of the future Governor of the State of Bahia.

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THE STATE GOVERNOR BAHIA NEEDS
Fernando Alcoforado*
This article aims to present the profile of the State Governor that Bahia needs in the current
historical moment. Bahia needs a governor who is able to solve its gigantic social problems that
have worsened in recent years with the vertiginous increase in unemployment, hunger and misery
of the population, overcome the existing weaknesses in its public health and basic sanitation
systems. and restructure them on new bases to meet the needs of the population, solve the gigantic
problems that affect basic education and higher education to meet the needs of the population and
the productive sectors, reactivate the Bahian economy that has been in deep crisis in recent years
promoting the economic development of Bahia on new bases, reduce its regional development
imbalances to contribute to the development of the Bahian economy and adopting preventive
measures to face extreme events of nature to avoid their harmful consequences for the population
and the economy of Bahia. This article aims to guide its readers to make the most appropriate
choice of the future Governor of the State of Bahia.
Faced with the extreme gravity of the social situation of the population of Bahia, the future
Governor of the State of Bahia to be chosen should be the one who prioritizes the immediate
solution of the gigantic social problems that have affected the population of Bahia for several
years, represented by mass unemployment (5.847 million unemployed and 5.970 million are
discouraged), the loss of income of the population (791 thousand people no longer have work
income), the high housing deficit (555,635 households) that especially affects the low-income
population, the precarious situation of the homeless population (20 thousand inhabitants) and the
endemic hunger suffered by the poor population of Bahia (987 thousand people may have lived
with hunger in 2019).
In addition to prioritizing the immediate solution of the gigantic social problems, the future
Governor of the State of Bahia must make efforts to promote the improvement of the public health
system and the basic sanitation system, with greater investments to eliminate their weaknesses in
order to protect disease population and, above all, deal with current and future pandemics. Bahia
has fewer hospital beds than indicated by the World Health Organization. There are not enough
health posts that have serious structural and funding problems. Bahia was the state that invested
the least per capita resources in the health system in 2020, even with the pandemic of the new
Coronavirus. Bahia has insufficient water supply (81.13% of households are served), in sanitary
sewage (only 54.1% % of households are served), in urban rainwater drainage (only 13.41% of
municipalities have urban drainage service), in actions related to solid waste (24.7% of the houses
are served in garbage collection and seven out of ten municipalities don't have landfills) and in
the control of disease-transmitting vectors. Of the 417 municipalities in Bahia, 366 have a water
supply system and 122 have sewage collection and treatment services. Bahia has a great
deficiency in water supply, especially in the semi-arid region, which is characterized by water
scarcity.
The future Governor of the State of Bahia must make efforts to eliminate the weaknesses of the
State's basic and higher education system. Bahia has the highest illiteracy rate in the country in
2019, points out IBGE with 13% of the Bahian population over 15 years old not knowing how to
read or write (1.5 million illiterates). Bahia is the eighth state in Brazil in terms of illiteracy rate.
Bahia has the second lowest investment per student in basic education in the state system in Brazil.
The low investment has affected the performance of education in Bahia, historically below other
public networks in Brazil and even in the Northeast. Bahia has weaknesses due to the low
investment made in both basic and higher education. The lack of working conditions in schools
is a constant complaint from state education professionals. In higher education in Bahia, in the
MEC and Times ranking of universities in Brazil in 2021, the best-positioned university in Bahia,
UFBA, ranked 17th, far from the best universities. In 2018, the government of Bahia invested
BRL 1.359 billion in state higher education, reaching the third position in the national ranking of
the states that most allocated funds to the segment.

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The future Governor of the State of Bahia must promote its economic development to raise the
employment and income levels of the population, seeking to reverse the economic downturn
registered since 2017, when Bahia was the seventh state that suffered the most decline, with 8.9%,
surpassing the national average, which fell by 7.2% in two years. Bahia's GDP, which was the
sixth largest in the country, lost its share in the national ranking, being surpassed by Santa
Catarina when it dropped to 7th position. Bahia underwent a process of deindustrialization
because the Bahian industry "shrank" from 27.1% of total GDP in 2010 to 21.5% in 2018 and
21.8% in 2019. There was a loss of competitiveness of the petrochemical industry and the
departure of Ford, which left a trail of unemployment and devastation in the economy of
Camaçari. Bahian exports, which represented 4.6% of total Brazilian exports in 2012, reached
only 3.6% of the total in 2016 and Bahia, which occupied the 8th position in the ranking of the
largest exporting states, was surpassed by Santa Catarina.Bahia also lost its position in tourism,
one of the main activities of the state's productive base.
The future Governor of the State of Bahia must promote the overcoming of regional development
imbalances in Bahia, which presents three major problems, which are detailed below: 1)
Excessive economic concentration in the RMS - Metropolitan Region of Salvador; 2) Economic
regression in the development of the cocoa region; 3) Underdevelopment of the semi-arid region.
The trajectory that the Bahian economy followed from the second half of the 20th century led to
its economic and spatial concentration in Bahia. Since this period, there has been no effort by the
State government to decentralize the development process in Bahia. The emphasis was on
increasing industrialization in the RMS in the expectation that its effects would reach all of Bahia.
In the history of Bahia, there was no integrated development plan that covered all regions of the
state. The actions taken were basically punctual and not systemic. The future Governor of the
State of Bahia must prepare systemic and strategic development plans for the State as a whole
and for each region, aiming at the economic integration of all regions that never existed in the
past. Only in this way will it be possible to reduce the imbalance that currently exists in the
development of the various regions of Bahia.
The future Governor of the State of Bahia must adopt preventive measures in the face of extreme
events of nature resulting from global climate changes as they are currently occurring and will
occur in the future in Bahia. The occurrence of floods in Brazilian cities has been recurrent due
to intense rains, such as the one that happened recently in Bahia, leaving a trail of 20 dead, 31,000
homeless and destruction that affected 116 Bahian municipalities. This event, like others that took
place in other cities and states in Brazil, reveals the incompetence and irresponsibility of public
authorities in not adopting preventive measures to deal with extreme weather events. It is not
necessary to demonstrate that the flood causes many extremely negative impacts. It damages
property and endangers the lives of humans and other living beings. Some high and prolonged
flooding can compromise vehicular traffic in areas that are not at high level. Flooding can interfere
with drainage and economic land use. Structural damage can occur to bridge and viaduct pillars,
water and sewage systems, power systems and other structures located in the flood area. The
financial losses due to floods are incalculable, in addition to serious public health problems.
The future Governor of the State of Bahia must, therefore, focus his strategy on: 1) the solution
of its gigantic social problems; 2) improving the public health system and the basic sanitation
system; 3) in overcoming education problems; 4) in promoting economic development; 5) in
reducing regional development imbalances; and, 6) in facing extreme events of nature. It is worth
noting that overcoming social problems and meeting the health and education needs of the Bahian
population would also contribute to reducing crime indicators, which are quite high in Bahia.
In the solution of the gigantic social problems of Bahia, the future Governor of the State of Bahia
must strive to increase employment with guaranteed labor rights promoting the reactivation of the
Bahian economy, in social assistance to the unemployed and in the increase of currently degraded
income of the population with an income transfer program to needy populations complementary
to that of the federal government, to make it possible for the poor population to have access to
their own homes with a popular housing program with the necessary infrastructure, to meet the

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needs of homeless populations with a consistent social assistance program and in overcoming the
endemic hunger suffered by the population of Bahia with a program to combat hunger, aligning
itself with the candidate for president of the Republic who is committed to solving all social ills
unresolved by the various state governments and to eradicating country all neoliberal measures
contrary to the interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.
In improving the public health system and the basic sanitation system, the future Governor of the
State of Bahia must increase investment in public health which has been insufficient to strengthen
the public health system to guarantee access to the best possible care for citizens and increase the
fight against the spread of the new coronavirus, promoting the vaccination of the largest possible
number of people, as well as increasing the level of investment in basic sanitation, aiming at a
greater supply of drinking water for the population, sanitary sewage services and garbage
collection aligning itself with the candidate for president of the Republic who is committed to
reversing all social ills unresolved by the various state governments in the field of public health
and basic sanitation and to eradicating from the country all neoliberal measures contrary to the
interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.
In improving the public health system and of sanitation system, the future Governor of the State
of Bahia must increase investment in public health to strengthen the public health system to
guarantee access to the best possible care for citizens and increase the fight against the spread of
the new Coronavirus promoting the vaccination of the largest possible number of people, as well
as increasing the level of investment aiming at a greater supply of drinking water for the
population, sanitary sewage and garbage collection services, aligning with the candidate for
President of the Republic who is committed to reversing all social ills unresolved by the various
state governments in the field of public health and basic sanitation and to eradicating from the
country all contrary neoliberal measures to the interests of the people imposed by the various
Brazilian governments since 1990.
In overcoming the problems of education, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must make
greater investment that has been insufficient to restructure the education system in Bahia from
early childhood education to higher education, inspired by the successful educational policies
practiced in the education systems of Finland, South Korea, Japan, Switzerland and also the
United States. The future Governor of the State of Bahia must align himself with the candidate
for President of the Republic who is committed to solving all social ills unresolved by the various
governments of the State in the field of education and to eradicate from the country all neoliberal
measures contrary to the interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments
since 1990.
In promoting economic development, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must prepare a
systemic and strategic development plan that covers the whole of Bahia, which is formulated
together with representatives of the productive sectors, municipalities and organized Civil
Society, aiming at raising the levels of employment and income of the population. This plan must
provide Bahia with a development strategy that ensures the development of each municipality,
each region and the State of Bahia as a whole, and further integrates Bahia's economy with the
Northeast region and with the country. Besides, in promoting economic and social development,
the future Governor of the State of Bahia must act in coordination with the future President of the
Republic, who is committed to reversing all economic ills unresolved by the various State
governments and to eradicate from the country all measures neoliberal policies contrary to the
interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.
In order to reduce regional development imbalances, the future Governor of the State of Bahia
must prepare systemic and strategic development plans for the State as a whole and for each
region, strengthen and integrate Bahia's growth and development poles (Salvador, Camaçari,
Feira de Santana, Vitória da Conquista, Itapetinga, Lençóis, Jequié, Ilhéus, Itabuna, Porto Seguro,
Eunápolis, Teixeira de Freitas, Juazeiro, Irecê, Guanambi, Bom Jesus da Lapa, Barreiras, among
others) to be linked together, by roads (roads, railroads and waterways), take advantage of the
endogenous development potential of each municipality and each region and enable their

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economic interconnections and with other regions in Brazil and abroad, promote the integration
of the São Francisco River basins with the basins of the other existing rivers in Bahia and the
implantation of dams in strategic points of its territory to eliminate or reduce the water scarcity
of the semiarid region, make the industry in Bahia less dependent on that of São Paulo with the
expansion of the local processing industry, to make the government of the state of Bahia operate
as a State in Network in order to ensure the integration in the actions of all public organizations
in the implementation of strategic development plans, make efforts with the federal government
to offer fiscal and financial incentives for the development of backward regions and offer fiscal
and financial incentives from the State government for the development of regions late. The future
Governor of the State of Bahia must align himself with the candidate for President of the Republic
who is committed to reversing all the unresolved evils of the various governments in the field of
regional development and to eradicate from the country all neoliberal measures contrary to the
interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.
In the face of extreme events of nature, the future Governor of the State of Bahia must adopt
measures aimed at controlling floods caused by heavy rains and by the rise in ocean levels because
of climate change. In order to deal with floods caused by heavy rains, engineering works must be
carried out, adopting actions to regulate the use and occupation of the soil and environmental
education of the population, use flood warning and forecasting systems, establish zoning and the
respective regulation for the construction, among other measures. With the rise in sea level,
engineering works must be carried out and populations located in risk areas must be relocated, as
well as changes in the energy matrix and in the transport matrix, with the abandonment of the use
of fossil fuels and their replacement by renewable sources of energy (solar, wind, biomass,
hydrogen, among others) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. To
succeed in achieving these goals, it is important that the federal government and the government
of Bahia act in a coordinated manner in the fight against climate change to ensure that the Paris
Agreement is effectively implemented. The future Governor of the State of Bahia must align
himself with the candidate for President of the Republic who is committed to reversing all the
unresolved evils by the various governments in facing extreme events of nature, combating
climate change and eradicating from the country all measures neoliberal policies contrary to the
interests of the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990.
These are, therefore, the 6 strategies that the future Governor of Bahia should adopt to face the
problems that affect Bahia at the present time. In order to succeed in executing these strategies,
the candidate for Governor of Bahia who decides to implement them should collaborate with the
election of the candidate for President of the Republic and the federal and state parliamentary
candidates who are committed to reversing all the unresolved evils by the different governments
in the past and to eradicate from the country all neoliberal measures contrary to the interests of
the people imposed by the various Brazilian governments since 1990. In other words, the future
Governor of Bahia needs to count on the support of the future President of the Republic and with
a parliamentary majority in the National Congress and the Legislative Assembly of Bahia to put
the 6 proposed strategies into practice. These are the conditions for the candidate for Governor of
the State of Bahia to be worthy of the trust of the suffering people of Bahia and to win the next
government elections.
* Fernando Alcoforado, 82, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System,
member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional
Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of
strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is author of the
books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem
Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os
condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de
Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora
Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos
na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social
Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG,
Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica,

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Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate
ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores
Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no
Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba,
2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV,
Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua
convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018), Como inventar o futuro para mudar o
mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019) and A humanidade ameaçada e as estratégias para sua sobrevivência
(Editora Dialética, São Paulo, 2021) .