Indemnity paid by Samarco will be used to fight coronavirus in MG

Part of labor compensation paid by the mining company Samarco because of the rupture of the Fundão dam in Mariana in 2015 will be allocated to municipalities, hospitals and health institutions for patient care and combating covid-19 in Minas Gerais. The amount to be transferred is R$ 11 million, out of a total of R$ 50 million, filed in court by the mining company for collective moral damage on January 31 of this year, after according to the Public Ministry of Labor of Minas Gerais (MPT-MG), author of the request for transfer of resources. The release of part of the money from the indemnity was determined on Monday, 23, by the Labor Court in Ouro Preto, a stick to which Mariana belongs. The R$ 50 million would initially be used in professional training projects for workers in municipalities in the Doce River Valley, a region hit by the mud that leaked from the Samarco dam. "All institutions, companies, have to help because resources are limited and needs are many," said The Attorney General of labor in Minas Gerais, In Minas Gerais. By the decision, according to the mpt request, the resources will be allocated to municipalities and hospital units in the Doce River Valley, where most of the population affected by mud lives, and to Ouro Preto. "The resource should be applied exclusively in hospitals and health units that serve the Unified Health System (SUS)," according to the Labor Public Ministry. The Fundão dam in Mariana ruptured on November 5, 2015, killing 19 people, including outsourced workers from Samarco - a joint venture between Vale and BHP Billiton- and residents of the Bento Rodrigues district, destroyed by the mud that came down from the dam. The tailings followed the Doce River and reached the Atlantic Ocean, in the town of Regency, in Linhares, Espírito Santo. Among the municipalities and entities that will receive the indemnity funds are the municipalities of Ouro Preto (R$ 3.3 million) and Governador Valadares (R$ 1 million), the Bom Samaritano Hospital, governador Valadares (R$ 3 million), and the Immaculate Conception Hospital, of Guanhães (R$ 3 million). The definition occurred because these cities and entities are regional references in the care especially to the poorest population. In the decision, the judge responsible for the decision, Graça Maria Borges de Freitas, says that she granted the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Minas Gerais "due to the pandemic resulting from the outbreak of convid-19 and stressing the need for joint action of the institutions to overcome the crisis of medical care and prevent the collapse of the public health system and the care of the population."