Photo: Lohana Chaves
Indigenous leaders from Roraima participated online in a public hearing on Wednesday (07) at the Commission for National Integration, Regional Development and the Amazon, of the Chamber of Deputies, with the aim of discussing the Draft Legislative Decree (PDL) 28/19, which deals with the exclusion of the São Marcos Indigenous Land from the seat of the Municipality of Pacaraima.
PDL 28/2019 is authored by Senator Messias de Jesus (Republicans), from Roraima, and is specifically from the municipality of Pacaraima, a Municipality created within the São Marcos Indigenous Land (TISM) in 1995, and ratified in 1991. If approved, PDL 28 may take away a part of the São Marcos Indigenous Land, expanding the urban area of the municipality, which is fully within the Indigenous Land, in addition, it affects the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land, in the Surumú and Serras regions.
The hearing was attended by José Arizona Menandro – coordinator of the Surumú Region, Aldenir Cadete – coordinator of the Serras region, both from the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land, and also the Leaders Marcelo Pereira, President of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the São Marcos Land (APITSM), the general coordinator of the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), Edinho Batista, representative of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) and the Federal Prosecutor of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), Dr. Alisson Marugal.
"We speak for ourselves, in this hearing we showed that we are against this PDL, first we were not consulted about indigenous peoples, second because a PDL cannot cut up or modify a demarcation, homologation of an indigenous land that is already a consummated act, cannot actually change the way the homologation was done, the third it ends up bringing a very strong basis for the issue of the continuation of the invasion, this is a very serious problem, invasion of people into the indigenous land, threats to indigenous communities, we have the issue of mining that is affecting the rivers, the environment itself, there is the Pacaraima dump, it ends up flowing into the rivers and streams", highlighted Edinho Batista.
For the coordinator of APITSM, Marcelo Macuxi, the peoples who live in the territory are concerned about the right of exclusive usufruct of the indigenous land, which was conquered and guaranteed by the executive. "For us indigenous peoples, the land is sacred, the territory that our ancestors lived we treat with respect, we respect the environment, and when they receive attacks like these, through parliamentary projects, we have to react, go to fight and not lose. Our territory is our mother, that's where we live," he said.
The hearing was attended by Deputy Joenia Wapichana (REDE), and was one of the articulators for this hearing to be held before the PDL was voted on in Plenary.