Evicted families fight court battles seeking damages over dam project

Faced with evictions to make way for the Belo Monte dam project on the Xingu river in the Amazon, more than 500 families from Altamira, Pará, have sought assistance from the Public Defender's Office to receive compensation. So far, 120 cases have been settled, but there are other pending disputes that are being battled in court. The Public Defender's Office has set up a task force to take care of each case.

“The basic principle is, all people evicted from their homes must be provided with another home, and this was not quite what happened. So our role here is to enforce the housing rights of the local residents so they get new homes,” said Public Defender Francisco Nóbrega, one of the coordinators of the task force.

Designed as part of the Accelerated Growth Program, a government policy to invest in large infrastructure projects, the Belo Monte dam is expected to generate 11,233 MW and was budgeted at $8.9 billion. But the construction has also adversely impacted life in the region.

Residents of houses located in the area that will be flooded by the dam reservoir are entitled to financial compensation or to one of the houses that are being built by Norte Energia, the utility that will operate the dam.

According to Antonia Melo, one of the evicted locals who also leads the Xingu Vivo para Sempre movement, one of the problems is that Norte Energia underestimated the number of families that would have to be relocated. She says many people claim they were not listed to receive compensation because of excessive red tape: “You have to file your applications with hundreds of documents and receipts, that's a huge hassle the company [Norte Energia] is creating,” she explained.

Francisco Nóbrega concedes there are problems in the application process, but says that a majority of compensation claims come from families that are not listed but maintain that they live in the dam area. “The utility is suspicious of people claiming damages,” Nóbrega said.

According to the Norte Energia, the low-income applications kept by Norte Energia include 5,241 families living in 5,141 properties who are entitled to homes built by the utility or compensation in cash, letters of credit, or house rental benefits. Based on these records, the utility decided it would build 4,100 homes in five new housing projects, estimating that the other residents would chose from the other compensation options available.

“The other owners in a total of 7,790 entries are people who have more than one property, corporate entities, heirs, and others whose cases will be handled as appropriate,” Norte Energia explained.

Houses are “disappointing”

Another common complaint is the quality of the houses built for compensation purposes. According to Antonia Melo, the company had submitted a project for brick houses in three different sizes, which would all be built two kilometers from the current resident's location, close to schools, health centers, and within easy access to transport.

“It turned out we had to make do with small, concrete, one-size-fits-all houses, and they're too hot inside. The construction is of very poor quality, the walls are cracking and there are lots of leaks. On top of that, they can get as far as 8 kilometers' distance with no transport around and it's difficult to get there,” she complained.

But Norte Energia claims they chose to build houses based on a standard that ensures structural safety, durability, and thermal and acoustic comfort. “The buildings meet the technical standards that apply to construction with the additional benefit of using fewer natural resources and producing less waste being dumped into the environment.”

The utility also claimed they hired a consulting firm to assess the homes that had already been delivered and provide recommendations to meet the demands of the residents. The new houses are 63 square meters (m²) in size and have three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Adding on to these issues, the compensation amounts paid to the evicted populations are also raising complaints.

According to Nóbrega, the properties that the residents have to leave are underestimated so the appraised values do not reflect the current local real estate market, including hikes caused by speculation since the construction began in 2011. And with persistent land grabbing issues in the city, proving title to the land can be a challenge. “The compensation amounts are so low that people actually don't have much choice. It's either they settle for relocation or they're left with nothing because compensation can't afford them land to begin with,” he pointed out.

Antonia Melo says she chooses financial compensation because the area where she would have to move is too far away. “I'll go for compensation down to the last cent, I'm not giving up a single penny. It's not me who's asking to leave home or selling them anything in the first place,” she went on.

Norte Energia claims that the compensation they are offering to the evicted families is based on a pricing reference approved by the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA). According to the utility, financial compensation is based on a survey of the local real estate market carried out by appraisers accredited by the Regional Engineering and Architecture Board in January, June and October 2012, and revised between January and March 2013.

Translated by Mayra Borges