In drought, quilombolas in Pará wait for water delivery – 10/20/2023 – Environment

Amid the severe drought in the Amazon, quilombola and riverside communities in Oriximiná, a city in western Pará, are waiting for humanitarian aid and supplies. The North region has faced a serious drought in recent weeks, with several rivers reaching historic lows at certain measurement points.

The government of the state of Pará claims to have sent items to help communities this Thursday (19). The resources, however, have not yet reached the residents, who complain about the delay amid difficulties in obtaining water and food.

The city of Oriximiná, responsible for deliveries, says that it is carrying out transport to the affected areas with its own resources and that, with the very severe drought, service is hampered. “It takes much longer to cover communities”, says the management, in a note sent to Sheet.

On Wednesday (18), the municipal administration stated that it was already taking more than 30 thousand liters of drinking water to affected communities, mapped in a survey by the Civil Defense of Oriximiná.

Also according to the city hall, pumps and water tanks were also distributed to the most needy families.

On Monday (16), communities in Oriximiná and Óbidos (PA), a neighboring municipality, issued an open letter asking for support to face the severe drought.

The previous week, on October 11, Governor Helder Barbalho (MDB) had already announced the sending of baskets with food and drinking water to the population of the lower Amazonas and Tapajós regions, where the cities are located.

“In addition to the problem of access to water for drinking, cooking and even bathing, communities
in rural areas face difficulties in securing food. Transportation, which in this region is mainly carried out by river, was also hampered”, says an excerpt from the open letter.

“Many children cannot get to schools. And getting from rural areas to the city is very difficult. In several communities, access by boat is no longer possible, but only by small boats, making travel much more difficult , risky and long”, they also write.

Lenivalda Xavier, 54, coordinator of the Association of Remaining Communities of Quilombos of Alto Trombetas, one of the associations to sign the letter, says that the drought has been affecting them for three months. “It dried up like it had never dried before. Of the last few, this was one of the biggest droughts there has been within our territory”, she says.

According to data from the Civil Defense of Oriximiná, as of October 11, 23,010 people, from 4,602 families, had been impacted by the drought in the municipality that has just over 68 thousand inhabitants.

“It’s dried up inside the lakes, the springs where we got water. We’re getting it from the river, where small boats pass by. We already had difficulties because the artesian wells, in this period of drought, also dry up and we have to take the pump of water to the river. Today it has this problem of muddy taste and is very dirty. An outbreak of vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain is already beginning to appear in our communities”, says Xavier.

According to local leaders, access by authorities in the region is difficult, and contact with municipal and state administrations is usually not effective. “I’ve already carried out several communication procedures, but we haven’t received anything yet”, says Ari Carlos Printes, 42, coordinator of the Associação Quilombola Mãe Domingas.

The biggest need is clean water. “This is one of the priorities, quality water, with a good amount, because, within our area alone, between the six communities, there are 390 families.”

In Óbidos, the resources have already arrived. Mayor Jaime Silva visited the affected communities, and emergency measures, such as sending water to schools, were taken.

According to municipal surveys, the number of people affected is 8,970 people, in 39 communities.

Helder Barbalho sent a letter on Thursday to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) asking that the state be included in a provisional measure that will be issued to alleviate the effects of the drought in the Amazon.

The Quilombos do Brasil project is a partnership with the Ford Foundation