Belo Monte proposes BRL 20,000 in compensation for fishermen in the Xingu, and riverside residents protest

The company responsible for operating the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant, in Pará, proposed payment of R$ 20,000 in compensation to fishermen who ran out of fish in the Xingu River with the start of operation of the plant.

Norte Energia’s proposal was made following a recommendation from Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), which is analyzing the renewal of the power plant’s operating license, and the finding that thousands of fishermen -especially in Volta Grande do Xingu – lost their main source of income due to Belo Monte.

Hundreds of fishermen expressed dissatisfaction with the proposal this Tuesday (22) in Altamira (PA), one of the cities impacted by the plant.

Workers disagree with the criteria adopted by the Belo Monte operator, especially the number of fishermen –1,976– considered suitable for repairs and the way the company makes decisions.

“Since this venture began, we have been humiliated by Norte Energia. Norte Energia has made our lives about pain, suffering and conflict. It does this on purpose because it wants to pit us against each other,” states a letter from the council of peoples. traditions of the middle and lower Xingu.

“The company wants to weaken us, undermine our strength and impoverish our struggle, it wants to kill us slowly, leave us starving like it does with the Xingu River and the fish that inhabit the waters of the rivers”, quotes the letter, written after the attempt. meeting for detailing the repair proposal.

In a note, Norte Energia said that it has provided technical assistance to fishermen since 2016 and that it will only comment on the proposal after presenting the terms to the workers.

“The amount of 1,976 fishermen refers to a base list of fishermen, who already worked in the river phase and started to fish in the reservoir phase of the Belo Monte dam, made during participatory workshops in which fishermen were registered through self-declaration, followed by active search”, says the note.

Report published by Sheet on October 8 it showed that fishermen no longer have enough fish; fish disappeared from the diets of riverside and indigenous people; piracemas –the fish reproduction processes– ceased to occur; and the water released by the plant is insufficient even for the navigability of riverside dwellers.

Belo Monte operates with an operating license that has expired since November 25, 2021 – almost a year ago, therefore. In order to renew the license, Ibama’s technical team demanded, in June, the compensation payment from the fishermen, referring to a period of two years and two months in which Norte Energia failed to adopt mitigation actions in the communities.

First, the company made a different proposal from what Ibama recommended: it proposed transfers in three annual installments for the development of income generation projects.

Afterwards, Norte Energia agreed with the repair budget, but did not indicate values. In a document to Ibama on the 9th, the operator of Belo Monte finally presented amounts to be deposited with the fishermen.

According to the proposal, 1,976 registered fishermen should receive compensation. The number is considered insufficient – ​​Belo Monte impacted more than 4,000 fishermen, according to estimates by bodies and entities involved in actions to contain damage to the plant.

The BRL 20,000 to each fisherman must be paid in two installments, one at the time of signing a discharge term and the other within 30 days.

The proposal includes an amount of R$ 10,000 to fund projects to generate income for fishermen, given the decrease in fish in the stretch of the Xingu River impacted by the plant. This amount must be paid in two years. There must also be technical assistance for a period of three years.

Ibama indicated that it agreed with the repair proposal, without going into the merits of the values. The environmental agency stated that the definition of the universe of fishermen to be repaired will depend on the analysis of cases of workers who request inclusion.

A meeting in Altamira this Tuesday (22) would serve to present the proposal to hundreds of fishermen, who expressed dissatisfaction with the criteria defined by Norte Energia.

Disagreement even extended to the meeting place indicated by the company, too small for the number of workers interested in hearing the proposal. It was necessary to look for a larger space. The meeting was postponed.

In addition to the fight for compensation, for minimum fishing conditions and assistance for productive projects in the Xingu region, the fishermen’s demand is for more water.

The hydrograph adopted —the flow of water released from the dam for the operation of the plant— is insufficient for subsistence fishing, and the fishermen have not adapted to other activities, such as cocoa plantations or raising fish in ponds. Thus, families have become impoverished and live in food insecurity.

A so-called consensus hydrograph is already in place. There is not enough flooding, however, with this hydrograph, for the decisive phases of fish reproduction, as verified by an independent technical opinion, prepared at the request of the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) in Altamira.

This opinion was made by the riverside people themselves, by indigenous people from Volta Grande do Xingu and by researchers and technicians from USP (University of São Paulo), Unifap (Federal University of Amapá), Inpa (National Institute of Research in the Amazon), MPF and ISA (Socioenvironmental Institute).

The document was sent to Ibama on the 11th, with a proposal for a differentiated hydrograph, called piracema hydrograph, with a suggestion of water release greater than that practiced in key moments for fish reproduction.

The technicians point out in the opinion that, in December 2021, the volume of water was three times smaller than that proposed in the piracema hydrograph and four times smaller than the average flow in the Xingu before Belo Monte. What the riverside people see is that the river does not fill up enough from November to February.

The consensus hydrograph is dealt with by Norte Energia and Ibama through an environmental commitment term, according to the plant operator. “The company is committed to carrying out health, sanitation, productive activities, improvements in communication and land access, for example.”

Ibama did not respond to questions in the report.

Belo Monte had the first feasibility studies prepared during the military dictatorship, in the 1970s. The Lula government (PT) made the first licenses possible, and the works took place during the Dilma Rousseff (PT) government. In the first year of the mandate, the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government completed the generating units and inaugurated the complete set.

During the campaign, the president-elect said that he would build Belo Monte again and that only a third of the original project was put into practice in the PT administration, which reduced the impacts.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}