Large Seizure of Timber
6/26/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Subject: Large seizure of timber
Date: 26 Jun 1997
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NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by SEJUP (Servico Brasileiro de Justica
e Paz).
Number 277, June 26, 1997.
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ECOLOGY
- Large quantities of timber sized.
Since the beginning of June the Brazilian IBAMA (the federal
government environmental agency) has seized 20 thousand cubic
meters of illegally harvested timber in the Amazonian region. The
largest part of the timber was found south of the city of Manaus
in the river Purus where kilometers of felled hardwood was being
floated down the river. Forest clearance and the extraction of
hardwood from the Amazonian region has increased significantly
since 1995 with the arrival in the region of Malaysian lumber
companies.
"The Amazonian region will have to take care so that it is
not transformed into a situation similar to that in the south of
Para or Rondonia where the pressure from ranching practically
wiped out the forest. The Amazon is the next target" commented
the regional superintendent of IBAMA, Hamilton Casara. According
to IBAMA's estimates, of every 10 cubic meters of hardwood which
is exported from Amazonia, 8 cubic meters have been illegally
harvested. Most of this timber is cut in private areas or on the
indigenous reserves. Indians and members of the riverside
communities are paid just under US $10 per tree which is felled.
At the exportation end of the process the lumber merchant
receives on average just over US $300 for the tree.
- Work on waterway halted by court order.
Work on the Araguaia - Tocantins - Rio das Mortes Waterway
(hidrovia) which is one of the current engineering projects on a
42 item priority list of the federal government was suspended in
recent days by a court order. The question had been brought to
court by the Xavante indigenous group in Mato Grosso. The Federal
court in the state capital, Cuiaba, ruled that the project should
stop and imposed a daily fine of US $90 thousand if the court
order should be disobeyed. The waterway was planned as an exit
for grain production from the region to ports in the States of
Para and Maranhao.
In the ruling, federal judge Jeferson Schneider ordered the
Companhia Docas do Para which is responsible for the project to
immediately stop work on the project and not to authorize other
companies to carry out such work. The judge also ordered IBAMA to
take the necessary steps to ensure that work on the project would
stop. The decision of the judge was based on the fact that an
environmental license had not been granted by IBAMA to carry out
the work on the waterway and that the constitutional demand that
the construction of such waterways passing through indigenous
areas must be authorized by the National Congress after it has
consulted the communities concerned, was not adhered to. Two
Xavante communities of approximately 1600 people live near the
proposed route of the waterway in the municipalities of Agua Boa
and Nova Xavantina.
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The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the
source is cited. If you wish to contact us or receive NEWS FROM
BRAZIL free of charge by e-mail send a message to
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EDITOR NOTE: 2 articles not relating to the Amazon were deleted
from the following newsletter.
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NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by SEJUP (Servico Brasileiro de Justica
e Paz).
Number 277, June 26, 1997.
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SOCIAL ISSUES
- 8 judges removed in State of Paraiba.
The head of the Superior Work Tribunal, Minister Almir
Pazzianotto removed all the judges of the Regional Superior Work
Tribunal of the State of Paraiba on June 24. The minister's
decision followed an inquiry carried out which pointed to
numerous irregularities committed by the judges. Amongst the
accusations against the judges are nepotism, corruption and
misuse of public funds. Some of the judges had employed near
relatives whose monthly salaries were in the US $5 thousand
range. According to Minister Pazzianotto this is the first
occasion in the history of the Brazilian work courts that the
entire body of judges has been removed.
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The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the
source is cited. If you wish to contact us or receive NEWS FROM
BRAZIL free of charge by e-mail send a message to
sejup@ax.apc.org
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