Today, around 700 people occupied the
Hydroelectric Plant of Sobradinho on Rio São Francisco. The
protesters came from around 20 communities from the States of
Pernambuco and Bahia. This is the first time an action of this scale
takes place in the area.
The Sobradinho Dam
was constructed 30 years ago by the Hydroelectric Company of São
Francisco (Chesf) and generated the biggest artificial lake of the
world with a surface of 4.214 km2
and volume of 37,5 billion cubic metres. The reservoir has inundated
four cities (Casa Nova, Sento Sé, Remanso and Pilão Arcado) and
dozens of villages and settlements, forcing more than 70.000 people
out of their land.
The protestors
defend the revitalization of the river, rational use of water
resources and the construction of water tanks and wells. Nívea
Diógenes from MAB affirms that “first it is necessary to recover the
springs of the river, reforest the areas around them and resolve the
land property issues. Before even thinking of diversion, there has
to be investment in the construction of wells, cisterns and
pipelines to interlink them”.
Hydroelectric Plant
of Xingo
In the lower Rio São
Francisco, around 1500 workers have mobilized since early morning in
the Hydroelectric Plant of Xingó. They are members of social
movements, organizations and traditional communities from the States
of Alagoas, Sergipe, Pernambuco and Bahia. The act is part of Via
Campesina´s campaign which takes place throughout the country under
the name: "Food production without agribusinesses, in defence of
family farming". The protest denounces the forthcoming damages from
the diversion project and the new dams projected downstream of the
river.
Pernambuco – Forest
Zone
In the State of
Pernambuco, the acts focused on the expansion of sugarcane
plantations inside the forest zone. In the early hours, around 200
workers occupied the Sugarcane Experimental Station (EECAC), in the
municipality of Carpina (PE). The expansion of sugarcane monoculture
in the region is considered the major reason for the increased
misery of the local population and land concentration in the hands
of few.
The protesters
destroyed a research laboratory which contained normal and
genetically modified seedlings. They also cut down 2 of the total
100 hectares of sugarcane planted in the station, which is a
Public-Private Partnership between Sindaçúcar – Syndicate of Sugar
and Alcohol Industries in the State of Pernambuco, where 20 of the
major sugar and ethanol plants of the state, belong – and the
Federal Rural University of Pernambuco.
