MAB occupies the Ministry of Energy and Mines

Executive Secretary assured that the National Policy on Rights will come out untill May and pledged to streamline the Energy for All Program (“Luz para Todos”). However, refused to intervene with the hydro-power dams in Rondônia and considered satisfactory the auction of the hydroelectric dam Três Irmãos.

Series of simultaneous protests ocurred in five capital cities during this week and last Friday (28) people affected by dams occupied the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MME), in Brasília, to pressure the Ministry to attend and work on their demands.

MAB members of the national coordination were received by the Executive Secretary of the Ministry, Márcio Zimmermann, to whom MAB presented an official letter that guided the meeting wich contain six priority agendas.

PNAB

One of the central themes is the implementation of the National Policy of Rights for the Dam Affected Populations – which is a proposal of policy that guarantees and enables politically and juridically the rights of those affected.

According to Zimmermann, the Ministry participates at the Interministerial Working Group formed through the General Secretary of the Republic’s Presidency and have no opposition to the creation of this policy. According to the executive-secretary, at this moment the establishment of this policy depends only of the General Secretary of the Republic’s Presidency and compromised that the lauching of this policy will come out on the date stipulated by the government, in May.

Social Fund

The Social Fund is destined for the payment of the historical debt which the Brazilian State have towards the dam affected communities. According to the Executive Secretary the MME is not necessary against the creation of the fund, but this must not be raised from of the electricity fare.

MAB demands the partial use of the royalties charged for the use of the hydric resources from the hydropower dams for the Financial Compensation. By the movement’s calculation the values charged by the National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL) are lower than that determined by the law. Meanwhile, the companies sells energy above the price of 100 Reais/Megawatt/hour and ANEEL charges as if the companies were selling for 75 Reais MW/h. This means loss for the municipalities, states and the federal union. This are resources that could be applied for those affected by dams without any increase on the price of the energy bills.

Energy for All

Regarding the public policy program “Energy for All”(“Luz para Todos”), the executive-secretary requested that the movement forward the affected areas which does not have access to energy and compromised to fasten the process to guarantee electricity in these regions.

Coup in the electric prices

Unlike ANEEL, which assumed the errors in the Brazilian energy model, the Ministry of Energy and Mines has secured the “efficiency” of the electricity sector and blamed the lack of rain for the price increases.

According to the Ministry, from the 21 billion Reais which are being repassed to the energy generation companies, 8 billion Reais will be raised from the financial market and 13 billion Reais withdrawn from the public coffers. From this, R$ 9 billion Reais are referent social policies, as the social fare and the program Light for All, withdrawn from the tariffs with the renewal of concessions at the end of 2012 (Law No. 12,783). The other 4 billion Reais, with the 8 billion Reais will be raised by companies in the financial capital and will be diluted over the next five years in the energy tariffs payed by domestic users.

For Joceli Andreoli, of the MAB coordination, this is a reductionist view. “They do not accept that this crisis will affect the pocket of the Brazilian people and is caused by the speculation of the hydroelectric power plants. That is because, they also have interests in this system that harms the population and generates high profits for the electric sector”.

Rondônia

The Ministry denied to discus the issue on Rondônia, which lives its worse flood in history. And affirmed that, will only dialogue on this from the technical report made by the ANEEL (National Agency of Electric Energy) and the ANA (National Agency of Water). Also they refused to intervene with the consortium responsible for the hydropower dams of Santo Antônio and Jirau.

For MAB, this is an intransigent behaviour and shows clearly the authoritarian character of the MME. MAB requests the report to ANA and ANEEL and will demand a meeting with the involved organs. “For us, apart from technical reports, there is no doubt at all on the influence of the dams in this tragedy”, said Joceli of MAB.

Auction of the Três Irmãos dam

Zimmermann affirmed that the MME prior the participation of Furnas and consider positive the attraction of private investors to compound the consortium. According to Zimmermann, they have put in the contract the preference to maintain the same workers, which are today the employees of the Energetic Company of São Paulo – CESP.

“This is a very delicate moment for the Brazilian people. We live a great offensive of capital in the energy sector in all the world. The privatizations are happening in the petrol sector and also with the hydropower dams. We need to strengthen the unity between the energy workers and the workers affected by dams to gain victories”, said Joceli.