NGO representative and senators disagree on roads in the Amazon

The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on NGOs heard this Tuesday (3) the testimony of Eduardo Humberto Ditt, executive director of the Institute for Ecological Research (IPE). The commission investigates “fraudulent activities” by non-governmental organizations in the Amazon region.

The NGO, based in the municipality of Nazaré Paulista, would have participated in the creation of the Mosaic of Protected Areas in the Lower Rio Negro, which provides integrated management of several nearby conservation units.

During the hearing, the senators questioned the donations of millions of reais from foreign governments to the NGO. The president of the CPI, senator Plínio Valério (PSDB-AM), presented reports from the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin), which question the fact that NGOs like IPE receive, every year, tens of millions of reais from foreign government bodies , such as USAID (United States Agency for International Development)linked to the United States government.

Ditt confirmed that the IPE has already received resources from this agency and other foreign governments, but that the audits of these accounts are “very careful” and, in his opinion, prove that the resources were applied to actions to mitigate global warming.

Parliamentarians also criticized the lack of accessibility in much of the Amazon region, which is often blocked by the organizations themselves.

“Regions of Rio Negro do not need the construction of roads”, said the NGO leader.

Ditt’s statement did not please the senators and in reaction to the speech, the president of the CPI showed a video of Koripako indigenous people who spend days sailing in precarious boats, which are often moored and sleep in the open so that they can access nearby cities.

“A 16 km road would put an end to these Dantesque, humiliating scenes! It is difficult for a tourist to submit to what the Indians are forced to submit to. Anyone defending tourism without roads in this region is either contradictory, or a lack of knowledge”, criticized Plínio .

At the hearing, the rapporteur and the president also criticized the fact that NGOs often go to court to block infrastructure works in the Amazon, such as the construction of hydroelectric plants, roads, bridges, among others. For them, the so-called “sustainable development” model has only increased poverty.

Foreign Resources

The donation of voluminous financial resources to NGOs in the Amazon, by foreign governments, such as Norway and Germany, are highlighted as “worrying” by the CPI rapporteur, Márcio Bittar (União-AC).

Bittar questioned the Institute’s director for having received R$45 million from the government of Norway, a country that lives, according to the rapporteur, from oil exploration and the consequent emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) in large volumes into the atmosphere.

“Norway alone pollutes much more than the entire Amazon, and the NGOs don’t say anything! Of course, whoever pays rules”, criticized the senator.

In response to criticism, Ditt simply said that “it is up to the international community, in the multiple multilateral negotiations around global warming, to demand that major polluters reduce their emissions.”

With information from Agência Senado