The recent government approval of a controversial dam project on one of the Amazon river’s tributaries in Brazil has caused anger and protest from groups as wide ranging as indigenous activists who will see their entire way of life turned upside down, and the likes of Hollywood film director James Cameron. But despite international outcry, the project is pushing ahead.
Hydroelectric power provides more than 80% of Brazil’s energy and, as the economy booms, this energy becomes increasingly important. According to the state-owned Energy Research Company, only a third of the potential hydroelectric power in Brazil is being used. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been urging for dam construction for some time. And the Xingu river, a tributary to the Amazon river, has often been cited as a potential location for a new dam.
Historical Plans
Plans to build a dam there have existed since the 1970s, but have never been made a reality, largely due to pressure from environmental activists. Most of the dams that exist now were constructed before the ratification of the latest Brazilian constitution in 1988, which grants protection to the rights of indigenous people.
Initial plans to construct the Belo Monte dam, in the state of Pará, were dropped in the 1990s amidst widespread protest. The plan was reinitiated last year with support from the government who said that the power that the dam would generate is necessary to meet rising energy demands and to support the expansion of the Brazilian economy. They described the project as a “gift from god”.
An auction was scheduled for companies to bid for the rights to develop the dam at the National Electric Energy Agency headquarters in Brasilia. It had to be rescheduled twice due to court injunctions.
There was a last minute injunction by Antônio Carlos de Almeida Campelo, a local judge, who ruled that congress would have to pass a law changing the constitutional limits on building dams, to protect the rights of indigenous communities. He said the project would cause “irreparable damage” to the indigenous community.
However, this decision was overturned by federal judge Jirair Aram Meguerian, who found that “there is no imminent danger for the indigenous community” and that the auction “didn’t imply immediate construction”.
Hundreds gathered outside to protest before the auction, which only drew bids from two consortiums. According to International Rivers, the lawsuits against the project had left the government struggling for investment and several companies pulled out before the final auction.
Norte Energia, a consortium of nine companies, was awarded the right to build the dam on 20th April. The only other competitor was the Belo Monte consortium. The project will be led by the state-owned Companhia Hidro Electrica do São Francisco.
Large scale project
The dam will cost US$16bn to build and, if completed, would be the third largest in the world. According to the Brazilian authorities, Belo Monte would represent 10% of the nation’s power generation, providing electricity for 23m homes.
Construction would involve excavating two channels, larger than the Panama Canal, to divert water away from the main dam to the power plant. This would dry up a 96km stretch of the Xingu river called the Big Bend. The creation of a reservoir would also flood around 516 square kilometres of rainforest.
There have been attempts by government planners to revise the design so that the environmental impact is lessened, but it still faces fierce criticism.
Choppy Waters
According to Amazon Watch, the flooding would directly affect two indigenous territories of the Juruna and Arara people. Although 516km would be flooded for the reservoir, it would be a total area of 1,522 square kilometers that would be affected. Twenty thousand people would be displaced and 40,000 would be seriously affected in the regions of Altamira and Vitoria do Xingu.
Leaders of indigenous Xingu communities have been fighting against the dam to salvage their way of life. Leaders from 13 Xingu tribes worked together to create a new tribe of 2,500 people, which will occupy the construction site for as long as necessary to stop the dam from being built.
The leader of this tribe explained: “If we lose this river we have no idea what will happen to us. The river provides us with fish and food. How will we eat if we no longer have fish? And how will we ever leave here if we no longer have the river to travel on?”
The drying of the Big Bend would make it impossible for them to reach Altamira to sell their produce or buy staples. This drought would also destroy agricultural production in the area, causing problems for local farmers.
It is also possible that the formation of pools of water amongst the rocks in the Big Bend could attract malaria and other waterborne diseases. On top of this, communities such as the Kayapó Indians rely heavily on fish as part of their diet. The loss of biodiversity could also have detrimental affects on other species within the region.
Whilst the Big Bend would dry up, the water table would go up in Altamira, flooding the city during the rainy season. Families that now live off fishing and small-scale agriculture on the Xingu would be forced to move to Altamira in search of low paying jobs. They would have to compete with the 100,000 or more migrants that are expected to arrive in search of jobs.
This area has a poor infrastructure and some of the worst social care in Brazil. If they do not find work in Altamira, these migrants might seek land in rainforest area. This would increase deforestation, and further impact fish and wildlife, as well as encroaching on more indigenous lands.
Sheila Juruna, an indigenous leader from the Xingu region, believes that “Belo Monte is just the beginning… If we let them do this they will end up killing off Brazil’s Indians once and for all.”
Another indigenous leader, Mokuka Kayapó, said: “I do not accept the Belo Monte dam. The forest is our butcher. The river, with its fish, is our market. This is how we survive.” It is clear that the local communities have no idea what they would do if they were dispossessed of their land.
The government has said that local communities will not be displaced, but Christian Poirier, Brazil programme coordinator for Amazon Watch, is less than hopeful: “Given what is happening with indemnification programmes for people affected by Brazil’s Madeira River Complex – where one promise of compensation after another have been broken by the government and private companies – we can expect to see the government’s plans for displaced locals on the Xingu to be entirely insufficient. In addition, the people living on the Big Bend are not considered to be “directly affected” by Belo Monte, which means they may receive no support at all once they are driven from their homes.”
On top of this, these displaced people will never benefit from the development of the dam. Poiriers points out the Tucuruí dam as an example: “Indigenous peoples and cultures have been decimated by these projects and many still await the electrification of their communities. This energy is not destined for local communities, nor for the distant cities in Brazil’s industrial Southeast, it is mainly to benefit mining interests based in the state of Pará. Indigenous peoples are opposed to this project exactly because they understand that they will not benefit: the river and forest they depend on for survival will be sacrificed for a failed development model.”
The Xingu Indians’ lives are at risk and, whilst the site occupation is a peaceful response, they are prepared to do whatever they can to preserve themselves. Luis Xipaya, another leader, told Reuters: “There will be bloodshed and the government will be responsible for that.”
Raoni Metyktire, a Kayapó leader who toured the world with Sting in the 1990s in a campaign against dam construction, also spoke out against the dam: “I think that today the war is about to start once more and the Indians will be forced to kill the white men again so they leave our lands alone. I think the white man wants too much, our water, our land. There will be a war so the white man cannot interfere in our lands again.”
Drive for Energy
The project is a clearly a huge undertaking, but its benefits remain unclear. NGOs have estimated that the dam will only produce 10% of its 11,233MW installed capacity during the 3-5 month dry season and an average of about 39% the rest of the year. It would probably only work at full capacity for two months.
Although the government has denied this and said that other dams can be relied on during dry season, Poiriers points out that “the only way to make Belo Monte generate the energy it is designed for would be to build additional upstream dams to store water in the dry season”.
Despite the controversy surrounding this project, the government seems determined to plough on with it. Lula’s regime is currently backing the presidential campaign of Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s current chief of staff and both Lula and Rousseff have spoken about the necessity of more hydroelectric power in Brazil.
Even when one of the Norte Energia companies threatened to withdraw, the president said “it has a lock on the door” and promised that the government would help finish the work. He also welcomed other potential collaborators, saying, “You can help. Just ask.”
Poiriers thinks it is largely a political issue: “The Lula government is clearly being driven by political imperatives, such as the support of corporate funding for Dilma Rousseff’s presidential campaign, rather than by concerns for Belo Monte’s economic or technical viability.
“Belo Monte’s environmental licensing process, and now the forcing through of the project’s auction in spite of legal injunctions is a clear indication that the government is more concerned with complying with a political timetable in an election year in order to secure the political and financial support of corporations that will directly benefit from this project.”
The Brazilian government has counteracted the protests by emphasizing the fact that hydroelectric power produces no direct carbon dioxide. The environment minister Carlos Minc also highlighted the fact that the construction company would have to spend around US$800m offsetting the environmental damage. “This is not going to be an environmental disaster,” he promised on television.
He also assured viewers that “not a single Indian will be displaced. They will be indirectly affected, but they will not have to leave indigenous lands.” He received support from Roberto Messias, head of Brazils environmental agency, who said that only 12,000 people are likely to be affected by the dam.
He claimed that many of them currently live in wooden riverside shacks and are likely to benefit from the dam: “Our studies show that today the population does not have adequate sanitation or healthcare. The conditions outlined in the license are designed so that the local population have a superior quality of life at the end of construction.”
There are also locals that believe the plant could be beneficial. An Altamira carpenter was interviewed and said: “I’m in favour of it and if the government does what it promises, giving us new homes, people will have more opportunities. It will be good for us because the city will develop more.”
There are others that believe that the project’s detractors are unhelpful and mislead. James Cameron, director of ‘Avatar’, is campaigning against the construction of the dam because he believes it is a real life reflection of the problems of the Na’vi people in his film. Brazil’s energy minister responded by saying that Cameron did not understand anything about energy: “We don’t try to get involved in cinema because we know nothing about it. I wouldn’t try to make ‘Avatar’, would I? It would be horrific.”
Amazon Watch believes that Brazil has the potential to be a global leader, whilst still generating the energy it needs, by improving energy efficiency. A report by WWF-Brazil, released in 2007, stated that Brazil could cut its expected demand for electricity by 40% by 2020 through investment in energy efficiency. The power saved would be equivalent to 14 Belo Monte hydroelectric plants and would save US$19bn in lost energy. However, the Brazilian government does not seem to have any interest in diversifying their energy supplies.
Whilst they have been criticized for misunderstanding and meddling, celebrities such as James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver, who have been involved in the campaign, are suggesting alternative solutions. It remains to be seen whether the government will invest in the alternatives that they and environmental groups are suggesting, or whether the Xingu river will become a real life Pandora.
