Jericoa: The forgotten community on the Big Bend

The building of the Belo Monte will affect many indigenous communities in the Xingu river basin whose survival is dependent on the river. One of these communities is located in the Big Bend near the Paquiçamba called Jericoa. This community consists of 8 families, among them are the people of the Xipaia, Curuaia and Canela indigenous people. This land has been forgotten by all and has never been demarcated as an indigenous reserve for over 30 years now. Due to this system failure and incompetence of Incra and Funai today it is only recognized as legal resettlement. They do not have the permission to work on the land and therefore live in poverty. This week I met with some of their representatives who were outraged and were seeking out legal advice, as Funai has failed to respond to them.

This community had been recognized by the Norte Energia’s PBA (Basic Environmental Plan). As an area applicable to receive “emergency” assistance only. This emergency assistance consisted of food, fuel and materials that would sever as a temporary compensation due to the impacts of Belo Monte Dam. The works progressed and the community of Jeriqua received the assistance only one time during the last 2 years. Soon after the construction began the quality water became worse and they noticed a dramatic decline in fish populations. Diana, one of the residents said: “We are abandoned. We have no sanitation or schools. Today we drink polluted water. The game and fish have disappeared since the construction of the dam. ”

On February 15th they came to the city to request a formal meeting with Funai and public prosecutors in order to resolve their situation. At that time they were promised a formal meeting on March 6th with Funai, who would go to their community. However, Funai never appeared, community leaders then came to the city on the 11th to find out that their meeting was supposedly moved to April. Outraged, they sought for help from Xingu Vivo. They described their situation with anger and made it clear they are ready to fight if there is no dialogue about improving their situation.

In addition to their struggle on the ground, the company put into place a transpositional system that is supposed to help the boats cross the river now that it is almost completely closed. However, they do not have a large enough boat to use the system. On their way to the city they realized now that the river is almost completely closed it is very difficult and dangerous to navigate. They nearly had a severe accident due to the treacherous waters. In addition, due to flow of the river they are paying twice as much for fuel and did not have the money to make it back to their community from the city.

This community is fed up, things in their community are becoming worse by the minute and their voices are not being heard. They are ready to occupy and stay until they are negotiated with. We will keep you updated.