Altamira, Pará – The construction of Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant, in Pará, designed to be the third largest in the world, only after Three Gorges, in China, and Itaipu, on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, has been a source of controversy for years and promises to continue being for a long time.
On one side is the government of Brazil, which has invested intense political capital in the development of the works, which resulted in the approval of an initial license for development of the project by the Brazilian Environment and Renewable Natural Resource Institute (Ibama) and promotion, in April, of the tender that defined the consortium of institutions responsible for installation and operation of the mill.
On the other side are social movements, churches, Indians, environmentalists, small farmers and the inhabitants of the banks of the Xingu river, the site of the enterprise, who say that the dam will degrade the environment in the region and destroy the way of life of a large part of the population.
In the centre are city halls, businessmen and organisations of the civil society that are favourable to the mill, but who want compliancy by the government and Norte Energia, the company established by the winners of the tender, with a series of conditions to guarantee the development of the region.
According to the coordinator of the Xingu Vivo para Sempre (Xingu Alive Forever) Movement, Antonia Melo, the mill, if built, should cause a drought in the so-called Volta Grande, an immense curve in the river between the cities of Altamira and Vitória do Xingu, due to the installation of the main barrage upriver, which would directly affect the lands of two Indian tribes: Paquiçamba and Arara da Volta Grande do Xingu.
Apart from that, the project forecasts the construction of a canal and the establishment of a dam, practically connecting Volta Grande to a new water course, flooding areas occupied by small farms, which will have to be resettled. Part of the urban area of Altamira will also have to be flooded and the residents will have to move.
Antonia also says that the reduction in the flow of part of the original river should create areas with still water, ideal for the proliferation of mosquitoes that cause diseases like malaria and others. "The power plant will bring death to them (the inhabitants of the banks of the river)," she summarised. "Our call is for the construction of the dam to be cancelled," she added.
In the same respect, Sheyla Yakarepi Juruna, of the Juruna Indian community in Vitória do Xingu, said she fears for the future of her two kids if the dam is built. "There are many drams involved and many relatives (other Indians) are not aware of that," she said, amidst tears while speaking to ANBA and the other journalists on the E.torQ Amazon Journey, a car trip from São Paulo to Pará that was organized by the Association of Foreign Correspondents, sponsored by FPT, a maker of Fiat engines.
Sheyla strongly resents the government that, in her opinion, should defend the rights of Indians. "It is very sad to see our government doing that," she said. "To us, what would be legal would be for the construction not to take place, even if the conditions are complied with," she added.
The conditions were established in the primary license granted by Ibama and involve the guarantee of quality of water, investment in health, sanitation and education and the guarantee of continued navigation, a means of transport common in the region, among others.
On Tuesday (12), the group of journalists travelled down the river by boat, starting in Altamira, to the point where the main dam will be built, Pimental Island. On the route, the journalists spoke to residents of the region, like Joãozinho, captain of a rental boat, who said he is fully against the project. "Man, everything’s going to be flooded," he said.
The owner of a piece of land on the banks of the river, farmer José Alexandre da Silva Balão said he has faith that the project may not come off paper. "I will only give in right at the end," said the farmer, who hung a board on a tree saying: "I don’t want the Belo Monte dam".
Born and raised in the region and living in the same place for 14 years, Alexandre said that he "may have no money, but liberty". "We live off this river, fishing to eat and bathing and drinking the water," he said. The river is also a source of leisure for the residents. It is common to find children swimming and playing in the water, helping overcome the heat, which easily exceeds 40 degrees Celsius.
Defending the rights of the population, the Federal Prosecution Service has been playing an important part. According to the federal prosecutor in Altamira, Cláudio Amaral, the organisation has been following the project "since its birth". Nine public actions have been proposed, two of which guaranteed recent injunctions that even suspended the preliminary license on the eve of the tender, but were later repealed by the Regional Federal Court of the 1st Region, in Brazilian capital Brasília.
Now, the Prosecution should send new recommendations to the Ibama, before the institution grants the license for installation of the mill, among them the demand for Norte Energia to promote anticipated actions to guarantee the infrastructure necessary to accommodate the thousands of people who are going to migrate to the region for the works. The forecast is that the population should grow to 100,000 people, around the same as the population of Altamira. "Knowing that so many people are coming here, the city has to have infrastructure for health, sanitation, etc." said Amaral.
He also pointed out the need for investment in the areas of education and safety, as crime figures in the city are already on the rise. Amaral listed other themes that were also inquired about by the Federal Prosecution Service, among them problems in the promotion of public hearings, water pollution due to the rotting of the underwater forest and the viability of the project itself.
"The Prosecution Service is not against the project, but we have developed technical analyses. To us, constant enquiries are fundamental, so much so that the [federal] judge [of Altamira] granted the injunctions," he said. "Things are being skipped. We want the process to be developed calmly, hearing the population," he added.
Against blackouts
The government believes the dam is necessary to avoid blackouts in the country. One of the bets is the Amazon winter, a period of strong and constant rains, which is longer than the rainy season in other areas of the country. This way, while reservoirs of other dams are low, Belo Monte will still have capacity to generate a high volume of energy. The forecast is that the enterprise of 19 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 11.4 billion) should have an installed capacity of 11,233 megawatts, and 4,428 megawatts of average production, considering the dry and wet seasons, but even that is a source of debate among the parties involved.
Sources connected to the companies in Norte Energia said to ANBA that the canal and the reservoir between the dam and the power house should be established in an area with a fall of 90 meters, which should allow for a lower volume of water to run the turbines, different from other dams.
Apart from that, the flow of water in the original part of Volta Grande should not be interrupted, but reduced, and the two tributaries of the Xingu in the area, Bacajá and Bacajaí, should supply part of this loss. Another canal will also be created, close to the dam, to guarantee navigation and the areas of forest to be flooded will be deforested to avoid the rotting of the trees.
Regarding indemnity of those affected, the consortium promises, at least, the donation of a 300 square meter piece of land, with a 60-square-meter brick house, in the case of the urban inhabitants. The case of the rural inhabitants, in turn, will be analysed one by one. The Indians, in the point of view of the entrepreneurs, will not be significantly affected.
The idea is that Belo Monte should be a new model, different from the dams built before, with lower environmental and social impact. But lack of confidence regarding compliancy with the agreements is unanimous among those against the project. The mill should directly affect at least 20,000 people, or even 50,000, according to Antonia Melo.
Those defending the project say that the past may not serve as an example, as other great dams like Tucuruí, in the state of Pará itself, and Itaipu were built in a different context, during the military regime, when there was no concern with sustainability.
"The impact will be lower than it was 30 years ago," said the executive secretary of Belo Monte Consortium, an association that brings together 11 cities in the region, Sandra Xavier. "The families moved will have better quality of life," she said.
On Thursday (14), she and other local leaders should be in Belém, the state capital, to meet president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who should sign the Regional Sustainable Development Project (PDRS), forecasted in the tender of the works, in which Norte Energia, in partnership with the federal and state government, agrees to turn 500 million reals (US$ 300 million)to land and environmental regulation, recovery and construction of roads, infrastructure, investment in the agricultural sector, sanitation, health and education.
The mill alone is not enough
According to the coordinator of the Regional Economic Development and Socioenvironmental Development Forum of the Trans-Amazonian and Xingu (Fort Xingu), which brings together businessmen and representatives of the civil society, Vilmar Soares, investment should total 3.34 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 2 billion) in compliancy for the granting of licenses, as well as the engagement of the federal government in the tarmacking of the Trans-Amazonian, estimated at 1.2 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 721 million), and in rural electrification, for a total cost of 872 million reals (US$ 524 million).
"Belo Monte alone is not enough, as we want to solve fundamental problems for the region," said Soares. To him, it is only worth building the mill if the entire investment promised in the areas of infrastructure, environment and social aspects is guaranteed.
Another point of concern is the generation of jobs. The creation of 18,000 direct works posts and 28,000 indirect work posts should be generated due to the mill. The concern, both among those against it and among those for it is that in the region there is no qualified labour, so it will be necessary to bring workers from other regions. In Altamira alone, there are currently around 20,000 people unemployed. In this respect, there is pressure for implementation of qualification programs.
Sandra and Soares say that the guarantee for the population is what is written on paper and that, in case compliancy is lacking on the part of the government or companies, appeals may be made through legal means. Public pressure is also necessary. "Not everybody can be on the same side, and if it were not for those against, we would not have reached the figures we reached," said Soares. "It is up to us to inspect, charge, it is on paper and must be complied with," said Sandra.
*Translated by Mark Ament
