untitled design

Ilha das Cabras will return to public heritage after 30 years of imbroglio

Thirty-one years after the beginning of a legal imbroglio that seemed far from over, a public good will once again be public. THE Goat Island on the São Sebastião channel, a few meters from Ilhabela – since 1989 a private property belonging to former senator Gilberto Miranda -, will become a museum of caiçara culture, from 2025. This will only be possible through a legal agreement signed between the State Public Ministry, the Forest Foundation and the former parliamentarian.

Convicted of environmental damage caused to the island, on the north coast of São Paulo, Miranda appealed to all instances before his lawyers signed a Term of Conduct Adjustment (TAC) by which he undertakes, through one of his companies, a licensee of use of the island, to transfer R$ 14 million directly to Unesco – the United Nations arm for education, science and culture.

The UN agency will be responsible for implementing the Museum of History, Anthropology and Culture of the North Coast on Ilha das Cabras and for developing a management project that should be the responsibility of a private entity. The initial timeline for installing the museum and all the necessary works is 48 months.

Adjustment

According to the executive director of the state agency, Rodrigo Levkovicz, the local population and Caiçara communities will be heard during the process of developing and installing the museum.

The TAC also provides for the transfer of four properties in Ilhabela for the museum’s logistical and administrative activities. In July, the keys to the luxurious mansion with seven suites built by Miranda on the island were handed over to Fundação Florestal.

perks

Swimming pool, heliport, garage for jet ski and artificial beach are some of the perks installed by the former senator in the place, despite successive embargoes by the public authorities.

“This was a very tumultuous process, which began in 1991. Now, we are excited about this project and UNESCO’s construction model provides for this participation”, says Levkovicz. “And the population of the north coast is always very participative.”

interventions

At the end of August, UNESCO technicians were on site for a preliminary analysis of the installations and the changes made during the three decades at the site. And they were not few. In addition to a house, swimming pool, pier and grounding of a part of the island’s entrance, where a private beach was artificially widened, the rocky shores were concreted to receive the constructions.

The previous analysis indicates that this concrete cover should be removed, leaving the site with as many natural features as possible. What would already be an attack on the environment becomes even more delicate because the island is part of a Conservation Unit, the Ilhabela State Park.

Over the years, the permission to use the island, a public asset, was changed at the Union Heritage Secretariat (SPU) from the former senator’s name to companies in which he is a partner.

Currently, Bougainville Participações e Representações LTDA, a company based in São Paulo and a branch on Ilha das Cabras itself, was responsible for the right to use public assets.

All the changes carried out at the site caused considerable environmental impacts for the marine fauna, says prosecutor Tadeu Salgado Ivahy Badaró Júnior, from the Special Action Group for the Defense of the Environment (Gaema), of the State Public Ministry.

These are species of fish, crustaceans and birds affected by the intervention on the site. During the 33 years that the island was occupied by Miranda, species of exotic ornamental plants were also introduced, de-characterizing the original flora.

During this period, several administrative and judicial embargoes were enacted by the municipality of Ilhabela and also by the Justice of São Paulo. “He (Miranda) did not respect the embargoes and continued building”, says Badaró Júnior. “The action had several mishaps, with convictions for litigation in bad faith. The rights to occupy the island were being transferred to companies in which the former senator is a partner, which delayed the process.”

warrant

According to the prosecution, from the beginning the process was tumultuous. In a writ of mandamus filed in 2021 to guarantee the return of the island, the Public Prosecutor’s Office states that “concealments and refusals to receive summons and use of interposed persons, individuals or legal entities, to conceal their legal link with the property were some of the artifices used. by the defendant in the action and representative of the petitioner, former senator Gilberto Miranda, to postpone the deed and exempt himself from responsibility, which resulted in a delay of more than five years just for the closing of the citation cycle”.

With the lawsuit filed by the MP already in the execution phase, and after Miranda’s lawyers appealed to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), the former senator had no options. “By a fault of the State, the island was occupied. He (Miranda) couldn’t go out and build there like he did, he didn’t ask anyone for permission”, says the Gaema promoter. “We approached his lawyers and proposed a rational solution with the payment of fines and restitution of the place.”

Defense

Sought, the defense of the former senator who acted during the process and the Term of Adjustment of Conduct, did not respond to the report.

For the Gaema promoter, the outcome of the three-decade legal process is a sign that Brazilian environmental laws are functional and that, despite the time to resolve the imbroglio, the collective interest has been preserved.

“This case has a lot of symbolism: what is a public good must have public use”, adds Badaró Júnior. The information is from the newspaper. The State of São Paulo.

Source: CNN Brasil

You may also like

Get the latest

Stay Informed: Get the Latest Updates and Insights

 

Most popular