“It was a real tragedy announced”, reads in a report by Gaema, an agency linked to the Public Ministry
Before the tragedy caused by the rains last weekend on the north coast of São Paulo, the Gaema (Special Action Group for the Protection of the Environment), of the MP-SP (Public Ministry of São Paulo), had filed 42 public civil actions to decree interventions in 52 risk areas in São Sebastião (SP). The rains already caused death of at least 50 people.
According to the attorney general of São Paulo, Mario Sarrubbo, these actions tried to enact interventions in the region as a way to reduce risks to city residents. “We need to adapt to new times and protect people”, he said, referring to extreme weather-related events.
In one of these documents, obtained by Brazil Agency and prepared in March 2021, Gaema said that the region of Barra do Sahy, where the rains left a trail of destruction last weekend, was a “true tragedy announced”. According to the MP, the occupation of the hills was installed in a disorderly manner within the boundaries of the Serra do Mar State Park, in a region very susceptible to landslides and landslides.
“In this sense, the images attached to the technical opinion illustrate the effective risks of irregular occupation of the area, which has abandoned or damaged houses due to movements of the land due to the development of landslide phenomena.”, wrote Gaema in the document sent to the city hall.
FROZEN AREA
The irregular occupation of Vila do Sahy, built between the hills of the Barra do Sahy neighborhood, in São Sebastião, began in the 1990s. The native forest was removed for the construction, expansion and improvement of the Rio-Santos Highway, the name that became leads to a stretch of the BR-101 that borders the coast of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
This village, inhabited mainly by a low-income population with high social vulnerability, is located in a frozen area, that is, the construction of new occupations in the area should not be allowed. This freezing determination was made in 2009, when the city hall signed a TAC (conduct adjustment term) with the Public Ministry.
“The maintenance of the frozen core, in the area and in the form in which it is found, is a true tragedy announced, which, it should be noted, has already materialized in the area of other frozen cores, on several occasions over the last few years, in the municipality of São Sebastião, according to information widely known to the public and disseminated in the national press”, wrote Gaema in 2021.
However, due to lack of supervision by the municipal administration, said the MP, the occupation of this area has grown in recent years, driven by the development of mega-projects in the region, such as the duplication of the Tamoios Highway and the exploration of the pre-salt layer. As a result, unskilled labor destined to work in these projects began to settle more and more in São Sebastião, a city nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Serra do Mar State Park and which has a shortage of areas to be busy.
“The historical images of the occupation at the site allow us to verify the permanent and constant expansion of the disorderly occupation in Barra do Sahy, which shows the absence of inspection by the municipality of São Sebastião and the non-exercise of the inspection police power to avoid urban damage. and environmental practices practiced as a result of human occupation”, reads the document.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, this irregular occupation was carried out in all the neighborhoods of São Sebastião and had the main objective of “real estate speculation in beach areas and occupation of priority preservation areas”.
“This state of affairs, multiplied countless times, generates what has been witnessed in the municipality of São Sebastião over the last 20 years, where there are 102 centers of disordered occupation, essentially made up of low-income people who migrated from other regions of the country. , being Núcleo Congelado N° 31, known as ‘Vila Sahy’, yet another example of the problem experienced in the municipality, given the deliberate omission of municipal managers”, said the document.
According to the MP, a civil inquiry was initiated for each nucleus of irregular occupation in the city and, since 1996, the agency has been demanding the municipal administration for land regularization. Which until now has not been fulfilled by the municipal administrators who have succeeded in the city.
A Brazil Agency sought the municipal government to express its views on these actions that were prepared and forwarded by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, but did not receive a response until the publication of this report.
TRAGEDY
The rains that hit the municipalities of the north coast of São Paulo last weekend are among the greatest tragedies in the history of the State of São Paulo. It was also the highest amount of rain ever recorded in the country, reaching 682 millimeters in Bertioga and 626 millimeters in São Sebastião, in the 24-hour period.
The hardest hit region was Barra do Sahy, in São Sebastião, where slopes collapsed and houses and people were buried. One person died in Ubatuba and at least 49 people died in São Sebastião. Work to search for the missing continues to be carried out in São Sebastião.
After the tragedy, the Public Prosecutor’s Office informed that it will investigate possible responsibilities of the public power and investigate whether there was an omission by the authorities in the removal of residents from risk areas. In addition, the government announced that it will install warning sirens for landslides in risk areas.
With information from Brazil Agency.
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