Senate may create Permanent Amazon Commission

The final report of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the CPI of NGOs, presented this Tuesday (5) by senator Márcio Bittar (União-AC), included the need to create a commission permanent to address issues related to the Amazon among the proposals resulting from the work of the collegiate.

According to the rapporteur, the commission will be designed to debate issues that impact the Amazon region, the needs and difficulties of its population. To actually be created, the proposal must first be approved within the NGOs’ CPI report. The vote on the report should take place next Tuesday (12).

“It will be the appropriate space to evaluate the effectiveness of public policies imposed on most of the Brazilian territory […] We understand that it is extremely important that there is a space dedicated to discussing the Amazon within the Federal Senate. We are talking about more than 60% of the national territory, with all its needs and complexities”, points out the report on the creation of the permanent commission.

In his speech during the reading of the report, Bittar also stated that, although he values ​​reducing spending, he considers the creation of the commission necessary. “As I consider myself a classic liberal, I think the State has to be as small as possible. I have always been first secretary of the Federal Chamber. To this day, I am amazed at the size of the expenditure it has – and often it does not produce according to the expenditure. But I think that everything we said and saw, studied and heard in this CPI points to the need for this work to continue. And I don’t see any other more efficient way for this work to continue than for the Senate, President Plínio, to commit to creating the Permanent Amazon Commission”, said the CPI rapporteur, Márcio Bittar. Currently, the Senate has 17 permanent committees in operation.

When justifying the creation of the commission, Bittar’s report also pointed out that it is necessary to “shed light on the invisibles of the Amazon”. “Draconian environmental policies impede the region’s development, condemning people to eternal poverty. Much is said about preserving the forest, but little is said about the people, the human beings who live there. Therefore, a specific commission to deal with these issues, as well as to shed light on the invisible aspects of the Amazon, seems essential to us”, he reinforces.

In addition to the proposal, the rapporteur also called for the indictment of the president of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), Mauro Oliveira Pires, for the crime of passive corruption and for an act of administrative improbity that results in illicit enrichment. Wanted by People’s Gazette, the president of ICMBio said he was surprised by the request for indictment. “I was surprised by the inclusion of my name in the preliminary report, as I made all the clarifications requested by the rapporteur and other Senators. I remain at the senators’ disposal, especially to overcome any misunderstandings”, stated Pires, in a note.

Permanent commission will be able to debate everything from development to the activities of NGOs in the Amazon

Among the topics listed in the proposal to create the Amazon commission, Bittar included economic development in the region, as well as the investments in infrastructure necessary for this, in addition to the management of water resources in the Amazon’s river basins.

Other topics that may be addressed, according to the proposal, concern international cooperation with other countries in the Amazon region, the protection of the rights and territories of indigenous peoples and traditional communities in the Amazon, including the economic exploitation of these areas.

Given the fact that it was suggested within the scope of the CPI on NGOs, senators should also debate the activities of non-governmental organizations in the region, in the commission to be created. The topic of creation and economic production in conservation units in the region, also much discussed during the CPI, must be revisited.

There are also plans to discuss economic incentives for activities that promote the development of the Amazon forest, environmental crimes, including animal trafficking, illegal logging and illegal mining in the region, scientific and technological development that contributes to economic and social development and policies and actions to promote the social development of the inhabitants of the Amazon region.