People affected by dams protest in front of BNDES

MAB denounces the bank’s responsibility on the violation of rights and demand the creation of a development program for affected communities.
 

Since 8 am of this Thursday, around 200 dam affected people protest in front of the National Bank for Social and Economic Development (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social) – BNDES, in Rio de Janeiro. Members of the Levante Popular da Juventude (Popular Youth Upraise) and Sindipetro (Petrol workers trade-union) of the city of Duque de Caxias are also participating.

The protest aims to denounce the connivance of the public organ in relation to the violations of the rights of those affected in the construction of dams in Brazil. Also, MAB claims the bank support for the creation of a Program for Recovery and Development of Communities Affected by Dams.

In the last ten years, the BNDES have disbursed around 1trillion Reais in financing. Since the crisis of 2008 the BNDES have played increasingly a strategic role, with revenues of 150 billion Reais per year.

Between 2002 to 2012 circa of 650 projects in the energy area have being financed in favour of corporations, in an amount of approximately 200 billions of Reais. In this period more than 150 hydro-power dams have being financed in Brazil, meaning more than 60 billions of Reais of gain for the BNDES.

“Although all this money invested in the energetic development of this country nothing have being destined for those dam affected”, said Gilberto Cervinski, member of the national coordination of MAB.

MAB proposes that BNDES intends 50 million Reais with government agencies and partners in states and regions, to enable the Development Programme for Communities Affected by Dams. This amount represents only 0.08% of the bank’s investment in the building of dams in the last 10 years.
The program aims to restore and develop communities and municipalities affected by the dam construction, with the strengthening of production and generating employment, improving the living conditions of those affected and social and productive infrastructure, like access to roads, health care and education.

The MAB is awaiting a meeting with the president of the BNDES, Luciano Coutinho, to forward the demands.