‘Clearly politically motivated’, says BR-319 Observatory on Ibama license issue

Clearly politically motivated," says BR-319 Observatory on Ibama's license issuance

July 30, 2022

14:07

Marcela Leiros – Amazon Agency

BRASILIA – The Observatory of BR-319, a network of civil society organizations operating in the region of influence of the highway, said it sees with great concern the issuance of prior license for the reconstruction of the “Middle section” of BR-319, since important steps of the process, such as public consultations with traditional communities, were ignored. The Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) gave the authorization on Thursday, 28, and the organization said that the decision is “clearly politically motivated”.

The news about the authorization was confirmed by the pre-candidate for the Senate, Colonel Alfredo Menezes (PL-AM), who supports President Jair Bolsonaro (PL). “One more goal of the government of our president Bolsonaro”, he said after receiving a copy of the document delivered by the Minister of Infrastructure, Marcelo Sampaio, in Brasilia.

Allotments on the edge of the BR-319 highway. Invasions contribute to the deforestation of the forest and facilitate forest fires (Gabriel Monteiro/Agência O Globo)

“In our understanding, the LP [Preliminary License] still cannot be issued, since the free, prior and informed consultations were never carried out with the indigenous peoples and traditional communities that will be directly impacted by an infrastructure project of this magnitude. Thus, the rights of these peoples have been violated”, reported the Observatory of BR-319.

Public hearings regarding works of great environmental impact are determined by Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), by Articles 231 and 232 of the Federal Constitution, and by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peoples. Prior, free, clarified, and informed consultation with indigenous peoples, quilombolas, and traditional peoples impacted by the changes is mandatory.

Last year, public consultations were held, in person and remotely, in municipalities in the highway’s area of influence, such as Manaus, Borba, Careiro Castanho, Beruri, Manicoré, Tapauá, Humaitá, and Canutama. However, the spokesman for the BR-319 Observatory, Carlos Durigan, warns that essential rites were not followed.

“Free, prior and informed consultation, which the Federal Public Ministry has emphasized so much in this process, demands that a very detailed agenda be made. There are indigenous groups that need to use their own language, their own language, there needs to be a dynamic of consultation; it is not a group of technicians going in a hurry, passing by some of the places that they deem pertinent, presenting and leaving. In recent months, we have heard many indigenous people in the region say that they did not participate in any consultation, that there was no consultation along these lines”, pointed out the environmentalist.

The burning forest around a building that is on the edge of the BR-319 highway, near Vila Realidade. The village is 600 kilometers from Manaus and 290 kilometers from Porto Velho (Gabriel Monteiro/Agência O Globo)

The report questioned the Federal Public Ministry about the lack of holding prior consultations, and the body recalled that it has already recommended to IBAMA to suspend all administrative and executive measures, in progress, related to BR-319, until the due process is carried out. Regarding the granting of preliminary license, the MPF said that the case is under analysis to define the appropriate measures.

License for the “Middle Stretch”

The BR-319 highway connects Manaus (AM) to Porto Velho (RO) and the “Middle Segment” refers to the area between kilometers 250 and 655 of the highway. The National Department of Transportation Infrastructure (Dnit) had been requesting a license for reconstruction of the stretch for 15 years. The highway is considered extremely important for the development of Amazonas, since the state is “isolated” from the rest of the country, and it is only possible to get there and there by air or river. However, the socio-environmental impacts of BR-319 have also always been points of concern.

“Besides this, low governance prevails in the area of influence of the highway. The inspection actions are insufficient to curb the illegal occupation, invasions, deforestation, and land speculation, pressures that have increased exponentially in recent years. As an aggravating factor, the Conservation Units and the Indigenous Lands that should be protected are also under constant and growing threat, either by low management, lack of budget, or legislative and administrative measures that weaken these areas”, added the Observatory of BR-319.

Fire consuming forest near an unfinished construction site on BR-319 (Gabriel Monteiro/Agência O Globo)

The technical note “Opening and expansion of branch roads in four municipalities under the influence of the BR-319 highway”, by the BR-319 Observatory, pointed out that the expansion of the network of unofficial roads, known as branch roads, to the south of the BR-319 highway in Amazonas, has put pressure on conservation units such as national parks and indigenous lands.

The study analyzed the dynamics of the opening and expansion of active trails in 2021 in four municipalities located south of the highway: Canutama, Humaitá, Manicoré and Tapauá. The mapping identified that the expansion of branch lines, between 2016 and 2021, in the four municipalities, was 1,593 kilometers, corresponding to the opening of almost two BR-319 highways in five years. The extension of this network has a total of 4,752 kilometers and the year with the highest growth in branch lines was 2020 (14% growth), with an addition of 560 kilometers of branch lines in the surveyed municipalities.