80% of Mato Grosso Timber Companies Operating Illegally
Bastidores do Poder
August 7, 2000
Of the approximately 1000 timber companies operating in Mato Grosso, about 800 (80%) of them are found to have been operating illegally, according to the coordinator of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), Reginaldo Anissi Costa. According to Anissi Costa, the companies have been operating in a legally lax fashion for more than ten years, by way of small-time corruption within IBAMA. Anissi Costa is part of a commission that governs IBAMA for the duration of the government's investigations into corruption within the agency. He is offering to allow the timber companies to continue operating, but in a legal manner, after paying back the taxes and debts owed IBAMA.