Quilombola buys Vale share to vote against project – 04/28/2023 – Cotidiano

Buying a Vale share for R$79.90 to be entitled to participate in the shareholders’ meeting. That was Marlene Mateus de Sousa, 52,’s strategy to vote against a company initiative and denounce what she considers violations of the Serra da Serpentina project, in Minas Gerais.

The initiative, for extracting and transporting iron ore, is in the licensing process.

With the amount, Marlene was able to buy only one share in the company, that is, a merely symbolic percentage compared to a company that recorded a profit of BRL 9.5 billion in the first quarter of 2023. However, it was enough to allow her to have the right of speech in online assembly this Friday (28).

“It was great to be in this place of representing the communities”, says Marlene, coordinator of the Commission of the Quilombola Communities of the Upper and Middle Rio Doce, which represents more than 40 traditional communities, including Quilombolas and indigenous people.

“Vale says it wants to become a leader in sustainable mining, but this new project makes the same mistakes that were made before.”

When contacted by the report, Vale stated that, “with the opportunity of broad and active listening, considering the company’s interlocutors”, the Serra da Serpentina project is under review.

“The project is being reviewed and a new EIA [Estudo de Impacto Ambiental] will be filed as soon as the studies currently in progress are finalized”, says the company.

One of the main complaints from residents is that the new project developed by the mining company is contrary to Convention 169 of the ILO (International Labor Organization), which determines that affected traditional communities must be consulted.

According to Marlene, who became a shareholder earlier this month, it was precisely at community meetings that the idea arose that she should buy a share in the company.

“As a black quilombola woman and coordinator of the commission, I work so that the Doce River and its tributaries are not the scene of yet another crime. We saw how devastating the tragedy in Mariana was for the communities”, she says.

For traditional peoples, she points out, the river “is a divinity”. “It’s not just land, it’s sacred territory,” she explains.

The Serra da Serpentina project provides for the installation of pits, a power plant and a 115 km pipeline, connecting the municipalities of Conceição do Mato Dentro and Nova Era, in addition to tailings piles.

A SheetVale also stated that it “awaits the issuance of authorization for the management of terrestrial and aquatic fauna by the environmental agency to finalize the surveys for the EIA of the new project”.

The report also contacted the government of the state of Minas Gerais to comment on the progress of the licensing process. Management Romeu Zema (Novo) did not respond until the text was published.

In addition to the complaint about not having been consulted regarding the impacts of the project, the quilombolas fear that the undertaking will cause environmental damage in the region. According to them, the pipeline, for example, is expected to pass through the territory of some communities.

Other concerns are the pollution of rivers in the region, noise, deforestation and the arrival of a large volume of workers from other locations.

In all, it is estimated that 51 quilombos will be reached in 11 cities in Minas Gerais. Among the municipalities are: Antônio Dias, Carmésia, Conceição do Mato Dentro, Dom Joaquim, Itambé do Mato Dentro, Morro do Pilar, Nova Era, Passabém, Santa Maria de Itabira, Santo Antônio do Rio Baixo and São Sebastião do Rio Preto.

The Traditional Communities Commission also decided to file a lawsuit against Vale and the state of Minas Gerais for the suspension of the Serra da Serpentina project.

For Matheus Leite, lawyer for the quilombolas, the mining company is lying when stating that the operations will not cause impacts on the communities. “It is contradicted by its own EIA-Rima”, he opines.

The mining company’s study sent to the licensing bodies, says the lawyer, is largely based on secondary data, because the company did not send teams to collect information in loco in the communities.

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