The plenary of the Chamber approved, on the night of this Wednesday (9), a request presented by the leader of the government, deputy Ricardo Barros (PP-PR) so that the Bill 191/20, which deals with mining in indigenous lands, proceeding on an emergency basis. The application was approved by 279 votes to 190. 
When I announce that the vote on the application, the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL) said that the proposal will be analyzed by a working group and will only be included on the agenda in April, after an agreement between grassroots and opposition leaders. According to Lira, the group will be made up of 20 parliamentarians, 13 of which are majority and 7 minority. “[Há um] deadline agreed between the leaders of 30 days for the project to come to the plenary in the first half of April, more or less between the 12th and 14th”, he said.
For the government leader, the proposal consolidates a matter already established by the Constitution. “Congress was mandated by the Constitution to regulate exploitation on indigenous lands, we are complying, with years of delay, the Constitution,” he said.
Barros added that mining on indigenous lands is a reality that needs to be regulated and supervised. “We see the horrible scenes, the images of the rivers of the Amazon that are already exploited by illegal miners. Without a license, there is no inspection or obligation to restore the environment”. The government leader also said that the approval of the urgency request is the first step for the discussion of the topic by the working group.
The opposition criticized the decision to vote on the urgency of the project on Wednesday. For the leader of the PT, deputy Reginaldo Lopes (PT-MG), the topic should only come to the agenda after discussion in the working group. “During the meetings, even the leaders of the government base expressed disagreements with the text,” he said.
The Network’s representative, deputy Joenia Wapichana (RR), stated that the bill violates the rights of indigenous populations. “It will lead to death, the devastation of lives and indigenous lands. You cannot pose a threat of lack of fertilizers to authorize mining on indigenous lands, but these mines [de materiais utilizados na fabricação de fertilizantes] they are not in the Amazon, they are in São Paulo and Minas Gerais”, he declared.
* With information from the Câmara de Notícias Agency
