Entities defending transparency asked the (Federal Supreme Court) for measures to block financing with parliamentary amendments for road paving works that cause , as revealed by the Sheet to series “”.
It is the second time that the NGOs Transparency International, Transparency Brazil and Contas Abertas have gone to the STF based on the series’ reports. Last October, they had already petitioned the amendments committee, which has the minister as rapporteur.
At the time, Dino responded to the request and ordered the Federal Police to investigate the case that opened a road in the interior of Acre with , as reported by the newspaper.
Now, the entities present to the STF new facts shown in the series and request broader measures so that the amendments do not drive environmental degradation in the country.
In December, the Sheet showed that an amendment by Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM) financed road work without an environmental license and invaded indigenous land in Tapauá (AM). The road also has a dirt section that leads to an irregular city dump.
A January report reported that road opening or paving works financed by parliamentary amendments in the Amazon forest region are the subject of legal proceedings and complaints for violation of legislation that requires prior consultation with indigenous peoples directly affected by the projects.
According to the NGOs’ petition filed on Thursday (26), “the set of evidence already presented demonstrates that parliamentary amendments have been used by public managers, albeit occasionally, to carry out works that violate environmental laws.”
The NGOs claim that the use of federal public resources for this purpose is absolutely incompatible with the Constitution and “also represents a waste of resources, as these works are often embargoed or interrupted by environmental agencies.”
“In this sense, as parliamentary amendments are increasingly used to finance small and medium-sized works in municipalities that present a serious risk of deforestation, it is necessary to define procedures and criteria to prevent the public authorities themselves from financing actions that go against the explicit objectives of the federal government of promoting the reduction of deforestation”, they argue.
In addition to requesting a specific investigation into Senator Omar Aziz’s appeals for amendments, the entities requested three broader measures to prevent the amendments from promoting the destruction of nature and the violation of indigenous rights.
The main one is that the STF establishes as mandatory the presentation of environmental licenses and the carrying out of free, prior and informed consultation with the affected local communities in order to release resources for amendments intended for carrying out paving works.
They also ask that the state and municipal audit courts be ordered to provide information on the inspection of “compliance with federal, state and municipal environmental legislation in monitoring the execution of parliamentary amendments”.
Finally, they request that the Ministry of Environment and Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) be summoned to present recommendations on measures to adapt the implementation of amendments to environmental standards.
Regarding the lack of environmental licensing for the work in Tapauá and the invasion of indigenous land, in December Senator Omar Aziz stated that his mandate “is premised on the provision of federal resources to meet the demands of the population of Amazonas, especially in municipalities in the interior that face major infrastructure challenges.”
“The technical responsibility for preparing the work plan and the basic project, phases in which the environmental license is included, lies with the beneficiary entity and the approval of these requirements is the responsibility of the budgetary or mandatory unit responsible for the analysis. Approval only occurs in full compliance with the legislation relevant to the execution of agreements”, he said in a note.
The mayor of Tapauá, Gamaliel Andrade, in an interview with Sheet at the end of last year, he said: “Our intention as a government was to give citizens the right to come and go, both white and indigenous.”
