A police operation burned barges this Saturday (27) and seized at least 31 vessels used for mining on the Madeira River.
The mining of ferries is illegal, but it has existed for decades on the Madeira River and mainly employs riverside dwellers in the region.
Part of the vessels seized and burned this Saturday by the PF (Federal Police), which triggered the Uiara operation, were abandoned. The operation had the participation of the Navy and Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources).
Illegal mining and mining in the Amazon has gained new momentum since 2019, spurred on by President Jair Bolsonaro’s (non-party) promises to legalize and by the rise in the price of gold.
In the Yanomami Indigenous Land, in Roraima, the increase in the presence of miners has accentuated the serious health crisis. In Pará, the use of excavators (PCs) has destroyed dozens of riverbanks and streams, in addition to generating conflicts and violence. In both cases, enforcement has been ineffective in curbing the rise of this crime.
On the Madeira River, there have already been some attempts at regularization, which are hampered by the lack of coordination between the state and federal governments and by the limited structure of environmental agencies to license and inspect.
In January, the government of Rondônia regulated mining on the Madeira River, through an environmental license in several stages. But in practice few rafts and dredgers (with more structure and destructive power) operate in the river on a regular basis.
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