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The Federal Court complied with a request from the Federal Public Prosecution Service (MPF) and determined that the Union and the responsible company universalize access to electricity in rural communities of Acre within one year. The decision also set the payment of R $ 1 million for collective moral damages, which will be destined to the Diffuse Rights Defense Fund.
The decision was made by MPF/Photo: Reproduction
The sentence is based on a public civil action filed by the prosecutor Lucas Costa Almeida Dias, in July 2020, with the objective of ensuring the effective execution of the Luz for all program.
Created in 2002 and initially regulated by decree in 2003, the program provided for the full service of the rural population until 2008. However, this period was successively postponed, first to 2014, after 2022 and, more recently, for 2028.
During the process, the MPF demonstrated that even after more than 20 years of creating the program, entire communities in Acre, including indigenous schools and villages, remain without access to electricity.
Justice has considered that successive extensions, without consistent technical or economic justifications, violate the legal purpose of public policy and violate the principle of human dignity.
According to federal judge Ed Lyra Leal, the undefined postponement of universalization has as its main motivation the containment of costs, which distorts the original objective of the program. The sentence recognized as illegal the decrees that expanded the deadlines without the adoption of effective measures to ensure compliance with the goal.
The court decision also determines the presentation, within 30 days, of a detailed schedule of the necessary actions to ensure the power supply in the affected localities. The choice of supply modality, by conventional network or isolated systems, must obey technical, economic and environmental viability criteria.
The judge pointed out that the refusal to comply with the program within the legal deadlines represents a deviation of purpose and that the allegation of budget scarcity cannot justify the omission of the state. The decision states that neglect of populations without political or economic expression contributes to the perpetuation of regional and social inequalities.
The indemnity for collective moral damages considers the prolonged impact on the well-being of families, the local economy and the access to essential rights. On the amount of R $ 1 million, default interest on (August 7, 2023), date of the publication of Decree No. 11.628/23, and monetary correction from the judgment.
