19,000 prospectors left the Yanomami area in Roraima, says senator at the commission

The president of the temporary committee in the Senate that investigates the humanitarian crisis in the Yanomami indigenous territory in Roraima, Chico Rodrigues (PSB-RR), said this Wednesday (8) that more than 19,000 miners have already left the area in the last 30 days. The statement was given during the session that approved the commission’s work plan.

According to the senator, there are still around 800 miners who should leave the area in the next few days. “If in less than 30 days more than 19 thousand [garimpeiros]then, easily, at the latest in March, the area will be completely free”, he said in a record by Agência Brasil.

Rodrigues also demanded the permanent presence of the State in the region so that this type of situation does not happen again. “If not, what has happened for the last 30 years will happen. The fact will become recurring. Either the State remains present, with follow-up, inspection and control, or it will be another operation that we will have in the area, ”he said.

Work plan

The commission has a term of 120 days and should include visits to the Surucucu Campaign Hospital and the Santo Antônio Children’s Hospital, in Boa Vista, in addition to inspections at the Indigenous Health House (Casai).

Among the approved requirements are the request for information to Minister Geraldo Alckmin, of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, on the resources received and actually spent by the Amazon Fund since 2003, focusing on the area; holding public hearings and documenting the committee’s work on TV Senado.

The commission also approved the call for indigenous entities to provide clarifications, such as the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR) and the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Roraima and the Socio-environmental Institute (ISA).

And, still, representatives of the Artisanal Mineral Extractivism Cooperative of Roraima, the Garimpeiros Cooperative of Roraima, the National Gold Association (Anoro) and the Union of Companies Distributing Securities in the State of São Paulo (Sindival).

The commission will also hear, in a public hearing, the ministries of Indigenous Peoples; Human rights; Health; Environment; Justice and Public Security; Mines and Energy; Farm and Defense.