Crisis at Ibama: understanding what is known and what needs to be clarified in the decision that fought the fire Nature

Below, see a summary and then details on what is known and what the government has not yet clarified about the mess that occurs amid the increase in burning in the Pantanal and in the Amazon.

• FIRST SUSPENSION: In August, the Ministry of the Environment (MMA) had already announced the suspension of operations against burning and deforestation due to lack of money. He withdrew after negative repercussions and the release of resources.
• BRIGADISTS OUT OF THE FIGHT: The new decision, this time announced by Ibama, focused on stopping the activities of the members of the PrevFogo brigade, in force since this Thursday (22).
• REASON FOR THE DECISION: The reason for the suspension is lack of resources. Ibama president Eduardo Bim says that the agency has R $ 19 million in pending contracts.
• BUDGET X CASH: The controversy is in the conflict between the estimated budget and the cash. Organ says he has not received transfers. In August, MMA said that it had R $ 180 million blocked by the Ministry of Economy.
• GOVERNMENT REACTION: After the new suspension, the reaction in the government was different: Vice President Hamilton Mourão says that the government will unlock resources, but the Ministry of Economy said there is no blockage of budget allocations.
• CIVIL SOCIETY REAJECT: Entities point out that the suspension of activities is “one more proof of the anti-environmental policy” adopted by the Bolsonaro government.

See the details of each point below:

In August, MMA announced on the 28th that, as of the 31st, it would suspend all operations to combat illegal deforestation in the Amazon and burning in the Pantanal. At that time, he reported that the suspension was motivated by a financial blockade determined by the Federal Budget Secretariat in funds from Ibama and the Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio).

According to the MMA, R $ 20.9 million from Ibama and R $ 39.7 million from ICMBio were blocked, and these R $ 60.6 million were added to the reduction of another R $ 120 million already foreseen as a budget cut in the area. environment for fiscal year 2021.

That same day, after criticism from environmentalists and politicians, the Vice President of the Republic, Hamilton Mourão, who chairs the Amazon Legal Council, said that the blockade would not occur. “The minister was in a hurry there and that is not going to happen. The 60 million between Ibama and ICMBio will not be blocked ”, said Mourão. The suspension was not effective on the 31st.

Brigadiers knocked out

In the new chapter, the suspension was not announced by the ministry itself, but directly by Ibama. The agency says it has been experiencing “difficulties” since September “regarding the financial release of the National Treasury Secretariat.”

Officially, he ordered the brigades to halt work across the country. The decision, which affects more than 1,300 brigade members, comes at a time when both the Pantanal and the Amazon continue to face fires, which have already broken historical records this year.

Until the latest update of this report, the Ministry of the Environment did not release a note on the subject or any details of the impact of the measure or even the financial problems in the portfolio.

The president of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), Eduardo Bim, said on Thursday (22) that the agency faces financial problems that prevent compliance with the commitments.

“We have had contracts for three months without payment,” Bim said in an interview with GloboNews. According to him, pending payments are in the order of R $ 19 million.

“Our claims for the financial replacement of Ibama have been worked on for months. The financial flow control has been reduced for months by the Ministry of Finance, ”said the president of Ibama.

“It is not something that is unknown, it is something of planning a spreadsheet, of a system, and that causes paralysis in the organ. I, as a manager, cannot spend money that I do not have, nor can I. In fact, we have a contract that has been unpaid for three months ”.

Budget vs. Cash

Ibama’s budget, which includes mandatory expenses, such as personnel and retirees, is just under R $ 1.8 billion in 2020. Discretionary expenses – amounts that should not be paid – are around R $ 570 million.

According to experts heard by the G1One of the resource management problems occurred even at the beginning of this year, when the R $ 230 million transferred by the Federal Supreme Court occurred. The amount corresponds to the refund of Lava Jato and, according to specialists, it went to Ibama’s account and was transferred to the states.

In the experts’ opinion, the mess occurs because the finance and economy ministries are counting this amount as transferred to IBAMA, and in reality the institute did not use it. Counting the R $ 230 million of the R $ 570 million released for execution, which remains for all operations, inspections, payment of helicopters and everything that involves the fight against environmental crimes, is not enough.

Even so, Ibama did not carry out everything planned in the budget. In the case of funds destined only to environmental control and inspection, the budget foresees R $ 66 million. Until this Wednesday (21), only R $ 26 million had been executed. The same occurs with the amount left by Ibama da Lava Jato – in addition to the R $ 230 million sent to the states, the institute received authorization to use R $ 50 million – R $ 18 million were used.

Regarding the amounts released only for the prevention and control of forest fires in priority federal areas, Ibama would have R $ 38.6 million and executed R $ 18.6 million.

Wanted for G1, the Ministries of Economy and Environment did not disclose their position on whether what was indicated by specialists in the area is the main reason for the new Ibama crisis or one of the factors.

After Ibama announced the decision, the environment ministry did not reveal its position.

The Ministry of Economy, in a note, only reported that there is no blockage of budget allocations from the Ministry of the Environment, including Ibama and the Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio). Asked by G1 if it received a request from Ibama, the Ministry of Economy said that “any request for an increase in the financial limit is referred to the Budget Execution Board (JEO)” and that this collegiate body is ultimately the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior . Civil.

As in August, the vice president of the Republic, Hamilton Mourão, said that the government will unlock the necessary resources to resume the activities of the forest fire brigades throughout the country. Mourão told G1 that he spoke with the Minister of the Civil House, Braga Netto, to clarify the issue.

Mourão did not say the amount to be released and the release date.

Ana Flor’s blog reported that Salles did not inform Braga Neto and Guedes about the interruption of the firefighters. The vice president also said Salles did not warn him of the decision.

This Thursday a popular action was presented requesting the Federal District Court to determine the maintenance of all forest fire brigades, linked to Prevfogo, in the places where they were fighting the flames.

In a note, Greenpeace Brazil said that suspending the work of the brigades is “further proof of the government’s anti-environmental policy.” For Suely Araújo, senior specialist in public policies at the Climate Observatory, accounting problems related to the management of financial resources and the failures in the interaction between ministries cannot lead to paralysis of public policies.

“Ibama has budgetary authorization to spend much more than it did in 2020. Until October 21, the municipality paid off only 48.2% of those authorized in budget action 214M (fire prevention and fighting), 39.7 % of those authorized in budget action 214N (environmental control) and 36.3% of the R $ 50 million transferred by the Supreme Federal Court that come from Lava-Jato resources, in fact, had very little performance considering the period of the year we’re in, he should have done more. The current problems are related to the financial programming, not the budget, ”explains Suely Araújo.

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