Senate moves forward to create policy to help people affected by dams

Photo: Gladyston Rodrigues/EM/DA Press

The bill establishing the National Policy on the Rights of Dam Affected Populations (Pnab) was introduced in the Federal Senate on Wednesday (6). The text passed through the Environment Committee and is now in the hands of the Infrastructure College. If there is new approval, the motion is ready to be voted on by the group of senators, in plenary.

Federal MPs have already approved “yes” to the project. If it is passed in the Senate, it returns to the House for approval. The package includes measures to ensure reparations for the communities and populations affected by the construction of the dams. According to the text, accidents in such institutions should lead to compensation and assistance.

The Environment Committee made changes to the text of the proposal. The changes were proposed by Leila Barros (PDT-DF), Project Rapporteur. The parliamentarian cited the tragedies of Mariana in 2015 and Promadinho in 2019 as examples of the importance of a policy that guarantees the rights of those affected by dam disasters.

“The accidents in Mariana and Promadinho are tragic evidence of the extent of the devastation and the severity of the suffering of the victims, their families and their friends, demonstrating the importance of this proposal. In reparations for the benefit of Mariana’s victims for more than six years”, reads an extract from the Parliamentary Report.

Those affected by the Fundão tailings dam failure are represented in London, England, where the City of Mariana is leading a lawsuit against BHP Billiton, one of the project’s partners.

Working in the UK is the hope of accelerating compensation. Victims’ lawyers estimate that if the broader action in favor of the Fundão dam affected – the general civil suit launched by the Federal Public Ministry, in the amount of R$155 billion – is resumed, it will take 2-4 years for the trial in Brazil to begin.

Last year, Vale and the government of Minas Gerais agreed to pay a fine of R$37.68 billion for breaching the Corrego do Viejo dam in Brumadinho. The billion-dollar compensation is collective compensation. Individual actions are run separately.

The project wants committees with residents and companies

One of the ideas in the National Policy for Affected Persons is the obligation for dam monitors to implement the Dam Affected Population Rights Program (PDPAB). The idea is for the program to be implemented in committees to ensure broad participation of the communities in discussions about potential reparations.

Leila Barros stated that “The Peacebuilding Act has been a claim for more than 40 years for people affected by dams. These structures have been built over the years without a clear rule on how to deal with the rights of the nearby residents of these large works.”