Over 11,000 public works ‘disappear’ from government records in data blackout

Designed to transport 150,000 people a day, work on the West Line of the Fortaleza subway system is marching on at a solid pace. There will be a total of five stations, four underground, along a stretch of 7.4 kilometers, seeking to service the population of the capital of Ceará state, in Brazil’s Northeast.

The project is set to be concluded next year, and is funded with federal government money. However, when looking at the administration’s very own database, the investment made for the Fortaleza metro line is nowhere to be seen.

A report issued by the Federal Accounts Court (TCU) on the progress of public works funded with government money showed a vast reduction in projects financed by the Executive branch in 2020 — revealing a blackout in the government’s database. The Fortaleza subway extension is among these “lost” projects.

For comparison, the TCU’s audit used a government database supplied in 2018. In that year, there were...