Attorney recommends that Equatorial Energia stop supplying indigenous land squatters

The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) in Paragominas (PA) recommended that the distributor Equatorial Energia interrupt the installation of an electrical network, carried out without legal support, to serve invaders from the Alto Rio Guamá Indigenous Territory, in northeastern Pará.

The works, according to the MPF, are carried out without authorization from Funai (National Indigenous Foundation) and environmental license from Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), as required by law.

When contacted, Equatorial said that he is evaluating the content of the recommendation and that he has suspended the execution of the project in the indigenous land. The company claims that it follows all legal requirements.

It is one of the largest companies in the electricity sector in Brazil. It covers 22% of the national territory and serves 9% of the country’s consumers. It is the only energy distributor in Pará.

The MPF’s recommendation is based on an official letter from Funai reporting the existence of two 24-km power grids installed in invaded areas without the knowledge of the indigenous body. “In addition, a stock of concrete posts ready to be installed to expand the network was detected”, says the document.

The MPF gave Equatorial 30 days to review all electrical projects within the indigenous land and inspect, within 45 days, the inspection of illegal connections. The recommendation is from November 17th.

“The lack of compliance with the measures indicated will encourage the Federal Public Ministry to adopt, when applicable, the relevant judicial and extrajudicial measures to ensure the prevalence of the norms for the protection of public and social assets, which this recommendation deals with”, says the document, signed by the Attorney of the Republic Milton de Souza Junior.

According to the chief Kamirã Tembé, Alto Rio Guamá suffers a historic process of invasions, supported by politicians, and that judicial decisions on disintrusion have not been complied with by the federal government.

“Over the last five years, the former Celpa, now Equatorial, has been carrying out works within the indigenous land, bringing light to these illegal villages. This encourages them to remain within the indigenous land”, he says.

The leadership praised the MPF’s recommendation, but asks the Attorney’s Office to also expedite the disintrusion.

This is not the only case in which Equatorial is caught supplying energy to invaders of indigenous lands without respecting the legislation in force. THE sheet revealed that the company was fined for providing light to illegal occupants of indigenous lands Apyterewa and Ituna/Itatá, also in Pará. The company denies having committed irregularities and that, in the case of Apyterewa, the connection is illegal.

In addition to Equatorial Energia, the MPF also recommended that the city of Garrafão do Norte (PA) present a plan to remove the dump used by the municipal administration within the indigenous territory.

Close to two highways, the Alto Rio Guamá Indigenous Land has been the target of land grabbers and loggers. It has an area of ​​180,000 hectares and an indigenous population of around 1,800 people from the Tembé, Ka’apor and Awa Guará peoples.