People affected by dams protest in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia for policy of rights

Since Wednesday’s morning (26), people affected by dams are making simultaneous protests, in the city of Rio de Janeiro and in the capital city Brasilia, to demand a policy of rights and to denounce possible electric energy fare increase for next year.

Photo: Pablo Vergara

In Brasilia, circa of 300 dam affected people occupied, at 07 am, the front of the National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL), government’s organ which regulates the national electric sector, to denounce the business interests which domains the institution.

For the Movement of People Affected by Dams ANEEL serves only for creating favourable conditions for companies and losses for the population.

A letter have being delivered requesting to cancel the auction of the Hydroelectric Power Plant Três Irmãos, in Andradina, state of São Paulo. Formerly, this power plant was controlled by the State Energy Company of São Paulo (CESP), its contract expired in 2011 and returned then to the Federal State’s management. However, the government through ANEEL have settled the auction of the Três Irmãos power plant to happen in São Paulo’s stock market this Friday(28).

In Rio de Janeiro, approximately 200 affected people from the highlands of the state of Rio de Janeiro, also from Minas Gerais and São Paulo, marched from the Botafogo station to the building of Furnas, public company of energy generation and transmission, to demand a policy of rights.

The only law on the issue of those affected dates from 1941, which guarantees the compensation for the expropriation of the land for those who have the land title. Meaning that are excluded of any compensation those affected who does not have legal title on the land, land dwellers, share-croppers, tenants, riverside traditional communities, formal and informal workers of the region, etc.

MAB demands the approval of our proposal National Policy of Rights for People Affected by Dams, which is currently under consideration in the General Secretariat of the Presidency and other ministries of the Federal Government.

The main political points are: legal definition for people affected by dams, since, until now, there is no legal demarcation, definition of rights of those affected and forms of compensation, such as compensation, resettlement and improvements, definition of a state agency responsible, and an PNAB account for the allocation of financial resources of the state to enable this policy.

Besides this, MAB demands a Fund for the payment of the social debt of those communities which have already being affected. In Brazil, according to the movement’s account, more than 1 million people have been affected by dams, but only 30% have received any kind of compensation or repair.

These protests are part of the struggles of March, when thousands of affected people go to the streets in the whole world.

More information:

www.mabnacional.org.br

Press office Brasília: Vinicius – (61) 8242 3282

Press office Rio de Janeiro: Liciani – 21 96571 9983

National press office: Guilherme – (11) 98241 3171