Brazil’s Belo Monte dam puts livelihood of 2,000 indigenous families at risk, prosecutors say

São Paulo, 16 June 2015 (Associated Press) – Construction of a massive hydroelectric dam is endangering the livelihoods of at least 2,000 families in Brazil’s Amazon jungle state of Pará, according to federal prosecutors who recommend that efforts to move the residents be suspended. The federal prosecutors’ office said in a statement Monday that the Norte Energia consortium that is building the $11 billion Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River has violated 55 previously agreed-to items to guarantee indigenous groups, farmers, and fishermen their means of survival. A report based on the prosecutors’ investigation will be sent to Norte Energia. Neither Norte Energia nor the federal government had immediate comment on the prosecutors’ findings. […] The dam, the government has said, was designed to minimize environmental damage. But environmentalists and indigenous groups say it would devastate wildlife and their livelihoods. [more]

Brazil’s Belo Monte dam puts livelihood of 2,000 families at risk, prosecutors say