Renova Foundation allocates more than R$ 8 billion to those affected by the Mariana tragedy

With the amount budgeted for this year, the total amount spent on socio-environmental and socio-economic actions, since November 2015, should be around R$ 36 billion in December 2023. Of the amount allocated for this year, compensation and resettlement will represent about 65% of the budget.

The amount budgeted for payment of compensation and emergency financial aid is R$ 3.67 billion. By December of last year, 409,400 people had received R$13.57 billion in compensation and emergency financial aid.

Last December, the phased closure of the Simplified Indemnity System began, implemented in August 2020 by Renova, by decision of the Judiciary, as an alternative for compensation for categories with difficulties in proving damages, such as washerwomen, artisans, sand workers , carters, mineral extractors, subsistence and informal fishermen, among others.

The system also indemnifies Dano Água and formal categories, such as professional fishermen, boat owners and companies such as hotels, inns and restaurants.

The Simplified Indemnity System will be terminated in stages, by decision of the Court, to ensure that all locations have the same membership deadline. More than 74.9 thousand people were compensated by this flow, corresponding to the payment of R$ 9.08 billion until the end of 2022.

In addition to the Simplified Compensation System, there is another compensation option for those who are able to provide proof of damage. This is the Indemnity Program (PIM), which indemnifies formal categories, and works through the PIM/AFE System (SPA) platform, available on the Renova Foundation website.

Resettlements

The resettlement of affected families has an estimated budget of R$ 1.64 billion. Of the 568 families with homes affected by the collapse, 209 had their cases resolved with moving to their new properties or compensation by December 2022.

The new district of Bento Rodrigues enters a new phase. According to the Foundation, the first changes will occur gradually according to the completion of the houses and the intention of the families. With regard to houses, by December 2022, 107 homes had been completed.

The infrastructure of the new district of Paracatu de Baixo was also completed, as well as 39 houses.

Environment

The sustainable and socio-environmental development fronts continue throughout the Doce river basin and should receive an investment of R$ 876 million.

Of this total, approximately R$ 355 million will be allocated to the socio-environmental front, with emphasis on actions such as monitoring water and aquatic biodiversity, an action plan for the conservation of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity and transfers for the consolidation of the Rio Doce State Park, in Minas Gerais.

What those affected say

For the members of the MAB (Movement of people affected by dams) the amount of R$ 8 billion will be insufficient.

“We are not clear about the actions, which makes a more specific analysis of these values ​​difficult. What seems to us is that, from an environmental point of view, these are very insignificant values. In relation to resettlements, we have the following scenario: in the resettlement of Bento, half of the houses are still missing, and in the resettlements of Gesteira and Paracatu, everything is missing. That is, 8 billion annually does not meet the demands. From a more general point of view, the entire budget committed is insufficient” said Heider Boza, national coordinator of the MAB.

“In these seven years it has become clear that the expenses applied so far are inefficient and do not represent concrete results in the social and economic recovery of communities, much less from an environmental point of view. A quick visit or consultation to some communities can show us the lack of results given the level of investments made so far”, concludes Boza.