Politics of rights of people affected by dams will be approved this year, promises minister

The minister Gilberto Carvalho, from the General Presidency Secretariat of Republic, asserted that the national politics of rights for the people affected by dams will be signed this year. He made this assertion this afternoon (3) in the National Meeting of the People Affected by Dams (MAB), wich gathers more than 3 thousand people in São Paulo.

“I can say to you, in name of president Dilma, that still this year the president will sign the decree that establishes the National Politic to the people affected and that she will recognize the social, economic and moral State debts to these people”, said the minister.

The creation of a national policy of rights for the affected people is a historical claim of MAB. Besides the hydropower be the major way of generation of the country energy there is no legal mark that ensures the rights of the affected people. The only legal guarantee is the Decree 3.356, from 1941, that recognizes as affected only the owners of lands and establishes the indemnity as only policy of compensation.

MAB elaborated its proposal of National Policy of Rights of the Affected (PNAB) that defines a wider concept of affected and traverses about ways of reparation and rights of these people. Furthermore, MAB claims for a creation of a State Agency responsible for the implementation of this policy and the destination of money specifically to it. However, the movement proposal is been discussed for about two years in the Presidency Secretariat and counts with the resistance of conservative sectors.

Gilberto also said that agrees with the analysis made by the Movement about the energetic situation: “You have the right to protest against the construction of these dams. For me, is necessary to build hydropowers, but the problem is how we build and how we manage this process. I agree with you that we can´t produce energy as royalty and profit, it´s necessary to nationalize the energy production.”

The minister also justified the absence of the president Dilma in the National Meeting and said: “the president Dilma has a particular fondness to MAB since she was the secretary of Minas e Energia of Rio Grande do Sul.”