Tractebel celebrates while those affected by their dam go hungry

This Thursday, May 24th, the Belgian transnational Tractebel (a subsidiary
of the French conglomerate Suez S.A.)will be throwing a big party to
commemorate the inauguration of Cana Brava dam, on the Tocantins river, in
the state of Goiás, central-western region of Brazil. Invited are
authorities and executives of the company, who chartered an airplane to
bring European journalists to cover the event, and to visit Itá dam, in
southern Brazil, also property of Tractebel.

The sites to be visited were chosen so that the company could present the
idea that the populations expelled from their homes and lands by the dams
are in a "marvelous" situation. Tractebel is very interested in projecting a
positive image in Europe, especially in Belgium and France, because the
company has been rocked by corruption allegations and lawsuits in recent
months.

In Brazil, the Movement of Dam-Affected People sent representatives to
Europe to denounce Tractebel's actions. In November, the movement occupied
Tractebel's offices in Rio de Janeiro, as part of a mobilization in various
regions of Brazil.

According to information MAB has obtained from journalists travelling with
the delegation, there are no plans to meet with those impacted by the
projects, apart from meetings carefully arranged by Tractebel, which will be
present at all times in these sessions.

Between hotels and official actitivies, the journalists will travel only by
airplane and helicopters, preventing them from any contact with the
population. To be able to fulfill their journalistic duties, some
journalists have quietly entered into contact with MAB to be able to
register the dam-affected people's side of the story.

At Cana Brava dam, most of the dam-affected people were not recognized as
such by Tractebel, and the compensation awarded by the company did not
exceed 5,000 Brazilian reais (less than US$2,000), with some receiving as
little as US$15, an amount which would have to serve to buy a new piece of
land, build a house, and replant crops. The people of the region are running
out of hope, fishermen and artisanal miners who lived from the resources of
the river have been totally overlooked by the company, and many families
have already migrated to slums in neighboring cities.

According to their reports, Tractebel was able to promote a program to
integrate farmers into city life, and plans to grant some families houses in
the workers' housing site at Serra da Mesa dam, just upstream from Cana
Brava. Many of the dam-affected people are hungry, and are facing problems
caused by the environmental problemas the dam has caused, and by the lack of
clean drinking water.

Agricultural production in the region is stagnating, since those who live in
the communities affected by the dam did not receive any credits or subsidies
to be able to re-plant.

At Itá dam, on the border between Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina
states, the dam-affected communities have been organized for more than 20
years, fighting fiercely for the guarantee of their rights. Following many
marches, encampments, vigils, and sit-ins at the dam site and company
offices, they were able to achieve resettlements for most families, even
though these continue to have many problems. Still, most of the affected
families never received compensation, and many are living on the outskirts
of nearby cities.

The economic situation in the region of Itá is critical, and the fact that
the dam caused an outward migration from the region seriously impacted local
businesses. Agricultural production greatly declined, lowering the capacity
of towns and the states to provide assistance to the populations,
particularly those who remained living near the shore of the reservoir, who
lack health care, adequate transportation, education...

Brazilian legislation requires dam-builders to maintain a "reserve" of 100
meters around the diameter of reservoirs, but Tractebel only provided
compensation for the loss of a 30 meter swath, and farmers are restricted by
environmental authorities from using the rest of this protected area. Each
family received less than US$80 in agricultural credits, and there are still
more than 200 outstanding cases where families are pressing for
compensation, some of them even recognized by Tractebel as valid. Yet, the
company has yet failed to provide compensation in these cases.

With pressure from MAB, the Inter-American Development Bank, one of the
agencies financing Cana Brava dam sent a consultant to review the situation
of the dam-affected people. He confirmed many of the problems that MAB had
presented, but these continue to remain unresolved, because the IDB and
Tractebel have not taken effective action.

According to Hélio Mecca, member of MAB's national coordination, himself
affected by Itá dam, the practice of bringing journalists to Brazil and to
carefully plan what the journalists will see and photograph is part of the
strategy that Tractebel has employed since it purchased Brazilian state
energy companies. Mecca says that the co-optation of authorities,
principally mayors of the towns affected by the dams has been commonplace,
as well as using the power of their influence with the media, the judicial
system, governments, and the police. Tractebel has built new police
headquarters and jails, and built courts in the region of Cana Brava, even
carrying out reforms of church facilities to try and win over priests and
pastors. Parties and shows with popular artists paid for by Tractebel have
been used to hide the reality and to attempt to hide the economic, social,
and environmental problems caused by the dam.

Today, May 22, the populations affected by Cana Brava began a mobilization
in front of the Esmeraldas Palace of the government of the state of Goiás in
Goiânia with the objective of trying to obtain an audience with the state
governor. 350 dam-affected people, joined by 500 farmers from other rural
movements which are part of the Via Campesina do Brasil will be camped out
in the capital for one week in protest. Tomorrow (May 23), more dam-affected
people will join the encampment to discuss what will be the next steps the
dam-affected people will take.
_____________________________
Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens - MAB
http://www.mabnacional.org.br <http://www.mabnacional.org.br>

Bacia do Rio Uruguai
mab@mabnacional.org.br <mailto:mab@mabnacional.org.br>
fone: (54)522-1857

Secretaria Nacional
mnab@terra.com.br <mailto:mnab@terra.com.br>
fone: (11)3242-1328

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Glenn Switkes, Director
Latin America Campaigns
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA 94703-1576
USA
tel: +1.510.848.1155
fax: +1.510.848.1008
http://www.irn.org <http://www.irn.org>

arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)