Public event, on 03/21, marks the resumption of works on the buildings on the Malês campus

2024-03-22 14:50:33

A public event this past Thursday morning (21/03) marked the resumption of works on the buildings on the Malês campus of the University of International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusofonia (Unilab). The academic community, members of the university management, political representatives at the municipal and state levels (Bahia), as well as members of social movements and different religious segments, were present at the event, which included a symbolic signing of the order of service, officially signaling the beginning of the resumption of construction of two academic blocks on the Malês campus. The event was carried out at the construction site of the buildings, which is located close to the entrance to the municipality of São Francisco do Conde.

The bidding process for the resumption of work on the buildings was concluded with the selection of the company Dinâmica Empreendimentos e Soluções Ltda, whose representative was also present at the public event. According to the execution schedule, the deadline for completing the work is 10 months. “Once completed, the blocks will have 24 classrooms, 20 laboratories, canteen space, administrative rooms and a common area, in two buildings with ground floor and three upper floors”, explained Marcus Dias, civil engineer at the Malês campus and inspector of the work.

Monitoring of works
The bidding process was carried out by the Dean of Administration and Infrastructure (Proadi), in cooperation with the Infrastructure and Development Coordination (Cied). The supervision of the work will be the responsibility of the Malês campus Planning sector and the contract management will also be carried out by Seplan, with support from Proadi and Cied. The work will have a total cost of R$9,984,041.06.

“This is a unique moment for the city [São Francisco do Conde], for our university, for Unilab in its entirety. And of course we need to maintain our commitment to continue the fight”, said the dean of Unilab Roque Albuquerque, who highlighted the need to continue monitoring the construction process. “Senior management has also appointed the Dean of Administration and Infrastructure to come monthly to monitor the work, to provide all legal, legal and financial support, so that no mishaps can stop us. We are committed to monitoring closely and fighting to ensure that we do not have any complications and that the work is delivered on time”, said Albuquerque.

He also highlighted the commitment of the director of the Malês campus Mírian Reis, to make this resumption possible and, furthermore, recalled that this moment of restarting works takes place in a context of struggle and strike by administrative technicians in education and reaffirmed his support to this category.

The pro-rector of Proadi Lucas Monteiro, as well as the rector, also highlighted the cooperative work to support the supervision of the work with the Seplan team from the Malês campus. “Our objective is that until the end of the work, at least one person from Proadi is here every month, to monitor and see how the execution is going, to hold meetings with the local inspection team, to find out the progress of the measurements, any changes project and budget”, he explained.

Collective dream
A symbolic collective hug at the construction site was also held by those present, during the public event, whose date, as recalled by the director of the Malês campus Mírian Reis, coincided with the International Day of Fight against Racial Discrimination and National Day of Root Traditions of African Matrixes and Candomblé Nations. In her speech, she highlighted the struggle and efforts made collectively so that the dream of building and completing works on the academic blocks becomes a reality.

“This moment is about reaffirming this institutional mission of this university, which is guided by solidarity between people and this is revolutionary, just as the love that we give in our teaching work, in the work of the technical team, the outsourced team and of each student who entrusted us with this dream”, he stated.

According to the director, “today [21/03], being here and resuming the construction of infrastructure, we also return to the hope and dream of what we have not discredited at any time”, he pointed out. Reis also highlighted the importance of building this work, which involves the dream of a unique public university, which trains young black men and women from Brazil, Africa and Asia.

“There is no university in this country that takes a graduation photo like ours, a university that has graduated 972 black students, children of the working class, who are in postgraduate studies, in the job market, trained based on Afro-centered curricula, committed to anti-racist, anti-facist education that combats all forms of prejudice,” he said.

For the vice-director of the Institute of Humanities and Letters on the Malês campus (IHLM) Carla Verônica, “this is a moment that all the people who are part of and who belong to this community have been waiting for. This crowd and this energy that is found here will certainly expand much more so that, very soon, we will actually be occupying the rooms and different environments of this space that is ours”, she highlighted.

Support and presence
The public act of resuming work on the buildings on the Malês campus also saw the reaffirmation of support from representatives of the municipal government of São Francisco do Conde and the state of Bahia. Among them, the current coordinator of the state program University for All, Patrícia Machado, was present, who came to the event as a representative of the State Department of Education and the governor of Bahia Jerônimo Rodrigues. She reiterated the support of the state government and the Department of Education in the movement to resume works.

“Everything brought about by this university movement, policies for access and permanence in higher education, which mobilizes the student community for higher education policies are sensitive and always important issues, whether for the government [estadual], whether for the Department of Education. And participating in this movement shows how much we have been enhancing partnerships, this look at the policies and expansion of higher education within Brazil and the state of Bahia”, stated Machado.

Also present at the public event were Vanessa Dantas, executive director of the Hansen Bahia Foundation, located in Recôncavo Baiano; councilors of São Francisco do Conde Ró Valentim and Marivaldo do Amaral; representatives of social movements and religious segments; in addition to students, teachers and administrative technicians in Education from Unilab’s Malês campus.