More than four years after the Fundao dam collapse and the payment of R$ 2.5 billion in indemnities and emergency financial aid, the Renova Foundation is on its way to providing definitive answers to those affected.
The indemnity process provides for agreements for different categories and is expected to end in December this year. Therefore, the Foundation has initiated the termination of emergency financial aid (AFE) for those cases that were granted this payment in the emergency phase, but that do not fulfill the requirements of the Transaction and Conduct Adjustment Term (TTAC), and for those whose conditions for resuming their economic or productive activity have already been reestablished, based on the results of technical and scientific studies produced and shared with public agencies.
For these cases, in addition to the financial aid corresponding to July, a final discharge payment for the amount corresponding to three months (August, September, and October) will be transferred. These people will continue to be assisted in collective reparation actions, including job and income generation, such as professional qualification courses, promotion of economic activities, support to re-enter the job market, and access to credit lines, among others.
Emergency Financial Aid payments continue to be made to people of the categories of fishing (commercial and subsistence) at the mouth of the Doce River and commercial fishing in Minas Gerais, to residents from Mariana, Gesteira and Barra Longa, and to people from quilombola and indigenous communities, among others.
Resumption of conditions
TTAC clauses 137, and 138 establish that to be granted the AFE aid, the affected person’s income must be verified; whether this compromise was caused by a proven disruption to economic or productive activities; that this proven interruption is directly due to the dam collapse; and that the affected person financially depends on the interrupted activity. One of the concepts that support the termination of the AFE is the resumption of activities. If activities resumed, these TTAC requirements are not met.
The largest monitoring program in the country generates more than 3 million data annually. The data obtained through this program show that the current conditions of the basin are similar to those before the collapse. The Doce River water is now classified as category two by the National Council of the Environment (Conama), which means it can be consumed after conventional treatment.
On another front, more than 200 rural properties are receiving actions to resume their activities. The Renova Foundation supports rural producers who have been impacted by the passage of tailings through the implementation of a sustainable economic production model adjusted to the local reality.
Amounts disbursed (as of May 31, 2020):
Emergency Financial Aid (AFE): R$ 1.3 billion
Mediated Indemnity Program (PIM) – General Damage: R$ 908.6 million
Mediated Indemnity Program (PIM) – Water Damage: R$ 278.8 million
Technical Data