Ibama employees cite “total abandonment” by the government and suspend inspection in the Amazon

Employees of the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) demand career restructuring and cite “total abandonment” by the Lula government. The body has been paralyzed since the beginning of this month. Amid the mobilization, around 95% of inspectors gave up working in operations against deforestation in the Amazon and Yanomami indigenous lands.

The information was reported in an Ibama document signed last Friday (5), according to an investigation by the Metropolis portal. Only four, of the 87 registered employees, confirmed their participation in the Amazon inspection. According to the National Association of Environmental Servers (Ascema), employees have been waiting for the government’s position on their demands for at least three months.

“The document issued by the Ibama coordination responsible for organizing inspection operations in the Amazon shows that the operations scheduled for January/February have already been compromised, as we previously warned. And, depending on the pace of negotiations, institutional actions scheduled for the following months may also be compromised”, Ascema said this Tuesday (9) in a note.

In addition to career restructuring, Ibama employees are asking for an increase in border compensation and bonuses for risky operations. On the 5th, Ascema announced that, in addition to the 1,400 Ibama employees, 600 employees from the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) joined the movement.

Ascema reiterated that it supports the mobilization of civil servants and informed that this Monday (8) the government committed to holding the next round of the Negotiation Table on February 1st. The entity highlighted that “servants will not retreat in their position until the conclusion of the negotiation process”.