"Quem chegou primeiro"? Remanejamento de ribeirinhos na implantação da usina hidrelétrica de Santo Antônio (RO)

Abstract

This article analyses the displacement of riverine people to the settlements of Novo Engenho Velho and Riacho Azul, in the municipality of Porto Velho-Ro, due to the construction of the Santo Antônio Hydroelectric Power Plant, on the Madeira River. The research was quantitative/descriptive with some qualitative information, based on document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires. Three representatives of the plant and 28 families from the settlements comprised the sample. The results show a view of the plant representatives associated with the objectives of the infrastructure development policy in the country. Based on support for new housing and new productive activities, the managers consider that they provided conditions for the displaced riverine people to maintain their family, neighborhood, and socioeconomic structures, although they are aware of the necessary changes in this process. In the perception of the old riverside dwellers, it is a matter of facing the disruption of an organized way of life on the banks of the river, with the consequences of displacement to other places, in which the old family, social and economic conditions do not reproduce and the new conditions present several weaknesses, in particular the prohibitions on fishing, the poor quality of land for agriculture and the poor functioning of health, education and sanitation equipment.