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Vale proposed to the government of Minas Gerais to reduce the amount to be paid in compensation and reparation to the victims and the environment by around R $ 30 billion for the damages caused by the rupture of the Brumadinho dam, which in January 2019 killed 270 people and 11 are missing. The proposal was presented on Tuesday (17) and Repórter Brasil had access to the document.
The government of Minas Gerais, public defenders and ministries, in addition to the Attorney General’s Office, filed a lawsuit requesting Vale to pay R $ 54 billion to repair the human and environmental damage caused by the disaster.
The amount of the fine was calculated by the João Pinheiro Foundation, the official research and statistics agency of the state, which estimates economic losses of R $ 26 billion due to the rupture of the dam and another R $ 28 billion to compensate the families of the dead and others affected.
This week, however, Vale proposed a total payment of approximately R $ 21 billion, with a “global ceiling” of payments of R $ 16.45 billion – which would include the execution of works in Belo Horizonte, 60 km from Brumadinho. -, R $ 3 billion foreseen for environmental recovery, in addition to the R $ 2.2 billion already spent in compensation for the approximately 8 thousand affected.
Although the lawsuit is pending, the government of Minas Gerais and other entities began negotiating with the company on the grounds that, in court, compensation for damages can last for years. The mining company tries to reduce the amount requested by the court. Those affected, in turn, denounce that they do not participate in the negotiations and that they do not have access to the minutes of the agreement, since the Justice decreed the confidentiality of the document.
In addition to proposing a cut to half the amount required, the proposal made by the mining company does not contemplate the payment of the so-called “emergency programs”, which would guarantee income to the inhabitants of Brumadinho and 10 other cities in the Paraopeba river basin. that they had their jobs and income. compromised by the mud.
Vale proposes beltway and metro in Belo Horizonte as repair to Brumadinho
Without payment, the vulnerability of these workers increases and they can, due to the urgency of receiving compensation, accept lower amounts, according to lawyers and representatives of those affected heard by Repórter Brasil. Currently, Vale pays for aid to those affected by the disaster, however, at the hearing, it was decided to continue with this payment until December 30.
Within the so-called “global ceiling”, Vale also proposes that part of this amount be transferred to the government of Minas for the execution of works, such as the construction of a new metro line in Belo Horizonte and a beltway in the capital, which would consume R $ 4.75 billion. The Minas Gerais government faces difficulties in paying for its servers and constantly alleges a lack of resources to invest in works.
“What the government is negotiating is a way to re-elect Zema [Romeu Zema, governador do Estado] with money from those affected. If there were concerns about reparations, there would have been a broad process of participation by those affected, ”criticizes state deputy Beatriz Cerqueira (PT), who argues that the government suspends negotiations with the mining company and wants the opening of a Parliamentary Consultation Commission (CPI) to investigate the agreement, Cerqueira has 14 of the 26 signatures of deputies necessary to open the CPI in the mining complex.
After a 3-hour meeting on Tuesday, the agreement between Vale and the government was not finalized. “We officially reject the proposal presented by Vale in the process in which we collect reparations for the breakage of the dam in Brumadinho. What happened in Mariana will not be repeated,” Governor Romeu Zema (Novo) posted on a social network.
Government of Minas Gerais rejects proposal: “Value below what we consider necessary”
The governor’s criticism refers to repairing the damage caused by the rupture of the Samarco dam (a company controlled by Vale and BHP Billiton) in Mariana, in 2015. Five years after the disaster, the houses of the displaced are not lists and compensation was not finished. There, the repair process is carried out by the Renova Foundation, created after a judicial agreement between Samarco, Vale, BHP and federal, state and municipal organizations.
The secretary general of the government of Minas Gerais, Mateus Simões, informed Repórter Brasil through his notice that the government rejected Vale’s proposal, of about R $ 21 billion. “Value below what we think is necessary,” he said. Simões said that the values are not yet being discussed, as there are other points that need to be modified in the draft. A next meeting is scheduled for December 9.
The amount of compensation to families depends on the experience not yet carried out
While Vale, the state government, prosecutors, prosecutors and public defenders negotiated the agreement protected by a term of confidentiality, Silvéria Aparecida Batista was one of the victims who protested at the door of the Court of Justice, in Belo Horizonte, last Tuesday. Silvéria, a resident of the Vista Alegre community, near the Paraopeba River in Esmeraldas, saw her brothers lose their jobs, as they are rural producers and cannot use the river’s water to irrigate the plantations, for fear of contamination.
As a grocer, he claims to have lost part of the sales he made of cookies and cakes. “The focus of our community is the Paraopeba River. I sold the besiegers and fishermen who came, but the people did not want to come to the river, ”he laments.
Silvéria and other representatives of those affected criticize a possible reduction in the values of individual damages. In the proposal presented by the company, there is no clarity on how these indemnities will be measured, since the expertise provided under the coordination of the UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) was not carried out.
Vale says “keep negotiating”
Vale is the most valuable company listed on B3 (the old São Paulo stock exchange) with a current market value of R $ 354 billion, 19.5% higher than in the period before the disaster, when the company was worth R $ 296 billion. Since the dam burst, Vale has paid its shareholders twice. The first in August, when it paid R $ 7 billion for the results of 2018 and the second in September, when it distributed R $ 12 billion to its shareholders as compensation for profit in the first quarters of 2020.
In a note, the government of Minas Gerais counteracts the criticisms of those affected and argues that they are listened to and that they are seeking an agreement to “avoid a legal battle for years or decades, beginning to repair the social and environmental damages immediately.” Vale did not respond to questions posed by the report, saying that the amounts it will pay are not yet defined and that it is still negotiating with the government.
The draft agreement was prepared by one of the most powerful law firms in Brazil, Sergio Bermudes Advogados, who represents Vale. The office has Guiomar Mendes on its staff, married to the Minister of the Supreme Court (Federal Supreme Court), Gilmar Mendes. He has already hired Marianna Fux, daughter of the current president of the court, Luiz Fux. The former Minister of Labor of the Michel Temer government, Caio Vieira de Mello, is a consultant to the office, as well as the former director of the BNDES, Elena Landau. The former minister and campaign coordinator of Jair Bolsonaro, Gustavo Bebianno (who died in March this year) also worked for Sérgio Bermudes’ office.
Silvéria is outraged by the negotiation. “Before the mud, our story was good in the farm next to the river. Now, what remains for our descendants is tragedy ”.
