new domestic violance

Thursday June 30, 2011

Wider reach for Act: Domestic violence now includes emotional abuse

Stories by MARTIN CARVALHO, SHAUN HO and RAHIMY RAHIM

IT will soon be a crime for a spouse to psychologically abuse or inflict emotional injury following amendments to the Domestic Violence Act 1994.
The Bill was tabled by Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Senator Heng Seai Kie for its first reading.
Currently, the Act only covers physical abuse.
Among the changes is the definition of “domestic violence”, which would include psychological abuse and emotional injury to a spouse including causing the victim to suffer delusions after being given intoxicating substances.
The protection also covers children who suffer delusions after being given intoxicating substances.
Also provided under the amendments is the right for the victim to claim for compensation for psychological abuse and emotional injury.
The new law also empowers the court to make an interim protection for victims, which also prohibits an errant spouse from harassing or inciting others to harass the victims.
The spouse with a protection order against him/her will also be restricted from coming within 50m or a reasonable distance from the victim as deemed fit by the court.
This also includes entering the victim’s workplace or school or home where the victim is taking shelter in.
The amendments also make it compulsory that the only contact between a victim and complainant be in the presence of a welfare officer or person named in the order.
Unlike the previous law, a police officer is now compelled to arrest a spouse who violates the protection order if the victim lodges a report.
The protection order against a spouse can now be made by way of substitute service or an order by the court and need not be served upon the person.

Agenda bersama Dato Bandar 2th July

SARAPAN BERSAMA DATUK BANDAR, TAN SRI AHMAD FUAD DAN PENDUDUK KG TRADISI WPKL.

1)      Kenalpasti  persempadanan setiap Kampung

2)      Kemudahan Infrastruktur longkang dan jalan

3)      Kemudahan Asas utilities – penyedia perkhidmatan (TNB,Syabas dan TELEKOM)

4)      Rekabentuk bngunan  dan binaan (plan)

5)      Isu tanah  Rezab TNB, pengambilan tanah di JKPTG, Isu kebenaran Izin Lalu pada TNB

6)      Sungai Gombak – program RIVER OF LIFES atau PIRATES Of RIVER SOIL

7)      Keputusan Densiti Penduduk terpulang oleh Penduduk sendiri.

8)      Landskap & pokok diubahsuai dgn kerjasama pihak DBKL , Jab Seni taman dan Reka bentuk

9)      Cadangan laluan MRT, jalan Lebar melalui tanah rezab TNB

10)   Mengadakan program Komuniti, motivasi remaja, modal insan semua peringkat, ETP dan permata Negara program.

11)   Pengiktirafan Persatuan Penduduk sebagai pengerak, perantaraan penduduk dan PBT.

12)   Membenarkan penduduk membina, bangunan mengikut kemampuan masing2dengan konsep kan heritage, tradisi,

13)   Membina Dewan komuniti dan Kemudahan Futsal

14)   Mohon KWPKB, melalui UNIT PEMBANGUNAN KAMPUNG TRADISI DAN KG BARU;-

a)    Mengazetkan persempadanan dan Nama Kampung2  terlibat

b)   Merancang bentuk pembangunan sebagai Dasar dan panduan pd kg2 terlibat

c)    Memberi pengiktirafan dan penghargaan berupa Elaun pada AJK yg bertanggungjawab menjalankan tugas.

d)   Membuat kajian bersama Penduduk tujuan perkembangan masa hadapan

Public support for MRT overwhelming

Public support for MRT overwhelming, says Spad

By Lee Wei Lian

June 06, 2011

Nur Kamal promised to have his commission delve into objections over the MRT. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — The Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) today said responses received during its public display of the first phase of the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system were “resoundingly” positive.

According to the commission, 91 per cent of the more than 6,000 comments and suggestions were in support of the project, touted as Malaysia’s most expensive ever.

Spad CEO Mohd Nur Kamal noted, however, that though the majority were in support of the MRT, there were also objections over the system’s proposed alignment and environmental impact which he promised the commission would “seriously” look into.

“We’re very glad to see this, because what this says is the public has been very objective towards this project from the very beginning,” said Mohd Nur.

“Through the various stakeholder engagements that we have organised, we have seen the majority are in support of the KVMRT project.”

The public display was held at seven locations for three months from February 14 to May 14.

The commission also organised more than 50 meetings with the relevant local council authorities, members of parliaments and residents associations over the three month public display period.

While traffic-weary city residents have long called for an efficient mass rapid transit system like those in world class cities, their enthusiasm for the MRT system that was announced last year has also been tempered due to previous issues related to the implementation of KL’s LRT system such as sub-optimal alignment, lack of platform integration or a single ticketing system.

Controversy also surrounded the purported cost of the project, which some reports pegged to be as high as RM50 billion, although authorities have said the cost cannot be finalised until the MRT’s alignment is confirmed.

There was also a public struggle over the tender for MRT works when Perkasa and the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia protested the qualification criteria for contractors, prompting the project owner Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd to revise its pre-qualification criteria to allow joint ventures and make the minimum paid-up capital criteria non-mandatory.

The alignment for the MRT is expected to be confirmed this month, with the first construction awards to be given out in November.

The massive project, aimed at relieving traffic congestion and improving mobility in and around the capital city, is expected to generate 130,000 jobs during its five-year construction phase.

The Sungai Buloh-Kajang line is expected to start service in January 2017, a month after construction is to be completed in December 2016.

NEW ZEALAND ON UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION

SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND ON UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION

REF: STATE 149077

Post on August 18 delivered reftel demarche to the New
Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). James
Hartley of MFAT's Legal Division reported August 24 that the
ministry still was consulting with various government
agencies before developing a final position on the UNESCO
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity
of Cultural Expressions. A Cabinet decision on the
government's position is likely to be required . New Zealand
hopes to send Crawford Falconer, its ambassador to the WTO,
to the August 25 informal meeting to discuss the convention,
but his schedule has not yet been confirmed.
Burnett

RACE, RURAL POVERTY, AND LAND REFORM - BRAZIL'S IMPOVERISHED QUILOMBOS

SUBJECT: RACE, RURAL POVERTY, AND LAND REFORM - BRAZIL'S
IMPOVERISHED QUILOMBOS

REF: A. SAO PAULO 000789

¶B. SAO PAULO 00843 C. 03 BRASILIA 3739

¶1. SUMMARY. As it struggles to find resources to implement programs from agrarian land reform to Zero Hunger, the government of Brazil faces another challenge to its busy social agenda in bringing Brazil's quilombos (communities originally founded by fugitive slaves) into the modern world. The task of integrating quilombos into society is difficult because it presents economic, race, and social challenges. Almost half of all Brazilians describe themselves as being of African descent, giving Brazil the second largest Black population in the world behind Nigeria. Afro-Brazilians represent a disproportionate number of the nation's poor. (Brazilian race relations are covered in a series of Mission reports, see Refs A and B.) Quilombo residents tend to be abjectly poor, educated to the fourth grade, and living in communities only tenuously linked to infrastructure grids.

¶2. President Lula's quilombo agenda has made considerable strides in addressing quilombo problems, but much more is needed. Unfortunately, resources restrictions mean that quilombos will not make significant progress in the short-term. On July 10-11, Poloffs visited Kalunga, a quilombo in northern Goias state, 250 rugged miles north of Brasilia. Poloffs found Kalunga to be much like other quilombos: impoverished and without land title. END SUMMARY.

KALUNGA, MUCH THE SAME AS 300 YEARS AGO ----------------------------------------

¶3. On July 10-11, Poloffs, along with Claudio Braga of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA), the GOB agency responsible for implementing land reform policies; and Bernedete Lopes of the Palmares Cultural Foundation, the GOB agency charged with registering and protecting quilombos, visited Kalunga. Kalunga is the largest quilombo in Brazil with 4,000 inhabitants spread across three municipalities, occupying over 625,000 acres. The quilombo was founded by escaped slaves from the neighboring state of Minas Gerais who dispersed their communities in remote locations to avoid capture. For almost 300 years, Kalungans lived in cultural and geographical isolation. Contact with the outside world began in the 1980s. Since then, Kalunga has welcomed curious researchers and tourists, including President Lula who visited the quilombo in March 2004.

¶4. Kalunga runs much as it did three centuries ago, with a backward economy based on subsistence agriculture and barter. Not surprisingly, Kalunga is plagued by abject poverty. Basic sanitation, health care, and education are slow in coming. None of the mud huts or brick homes we visited had indoor plumbing. Currently, the Palmares Foundation is developing several sanitation projects in the community. Doctors, visits to the remote quilombo are infrequent and hospitals are largely inaccessible. The purchase of three vans to shuttle patients to neighboring clinics is the most recent improvement in health care. Educational opportunities are limited, as schools in Kalunga go up to only the fourth or fifth grade and classes are overcrowded. In one area, a teacher with only a fifth grade education instructs grades one through four. Few parents can afford to send their children to neighboring cities for further education. The desire for more educational and employment opportunities lures young Kalungans off the quilombo. According to one resident, not one Kalungan youth who has managed to go to university has ever returned to the quilombo.

BRAZIL'S LARGEST QUILOMBO TO GET LAND -------------------------------------

¶5. Kalunga will soon gain title to the land it has occupied for centuries. On June 30, the GOB announced that it would transfer land to Kalunga using federal and state funds for indemnification. The announcement came almost five years after Goias state officially recognized Kalunga,s authority over the 625,000 acres. The delay in the title process was caused by both structural and financial deficiencies. Although the GOB recognizes quilombo land as sites of national heritage to be protected under the Constitution, only recently has the GOB developed a clear plan and funding to transfer land to quilombos.

THE STATE OF QUILOMBOS ----------------------

¶8. Kalunga,s economic and social problems are indicative of quilombos. There are 746 registered quilombos (with hundreds more believed to exist unregistered) with more than 2 million people spread across 24 of Brazil's 26 states. Most of these communities are impoverished and without land title. In March 2004, the Palmares Foundation and the University of Brasilia published results of a joint study on 156 quilombos. The study showed that the lack of access to basic sanitation, treated water, and health care has led to the spread of diseases. Food security is a major concern, as the agrarian communities are vulnerable to extremes in weather conditions. There are few schools, and those in operation are inadequate. According to the Palmares Foundation, only 150 of the 746 quilombos have schools. The lack of infrastructure is one of the biggest impediments to integrating quilombos into modern society and lifting them from poverty. As in Kalunga, there are few roads connecting quilombos to nearby cities, making travel and commercial exchange difficult. In addition, many quilombos do not have electricity or phone lines.

¶9. Quilombo land reform has moved slowly. In 1995 the first land title was transferred to a quilombo - seven years after the 1988 Constitution recognized quilombo land rights. To date, only 72 of the 746 quilombos hold land titles.

LULA'S QUILOMBO AGENDA -----------------------

¶10. President Lula is a champion of the quilombo cause. Since taking office, he has turned over the administration of quilombo land reform to INCRA, a more experienced agency in land issues than the previous administrator, the Palmares Foundation. (Palmares continues to work in other areas of quilombos.) The transfer of administration allows quilombos to be included in the National Plan for Agrarian Reform, issued by the GOB in November 2003 (Ref C). The GOB has established measurable goals for quilombo land reform. INCRA, with assistance from the Palmares Foundation, is charged with completing thirty land transfers by the end of this year and 120 by the end of Lula's term in 2006. Special training in handling quilombo land issues has recently been provided to INCRA personnel responsible for quilombos. The GOB is also moving to include quilombos in the country's social welfare programs, recently making quilombos an area of priority for the government's Zero Hunger initiative.

LULA'S CHALLENGES -----------------

¶11. The challenge the GOB faces in addressing these issues is resources. There are only three INCRA members in each region of Brazil working on quilombo land reform. The Palmares Foundation has only six people (most of who work from Brasilia) who cover a plethora of quilombo economic and social issues with a meager annual budget of R$ 1 million (approximately US$ 333,000). According to INCRA, the dearth of resources and expertise often means that quilombos with major land conflicts or with large populations are serviced first.

¶12. COMMENT: Quilombos pose another challenge for the GOB in the area of race and poverty. In a country where racial and socioeconomic inequity affects a majority of the population, there are never enough resources. With weak political representation and no economic bargaining power, quilombos have no leverage to affect change in their own communities. As a result, they remain in danger of being prioritized low on the GOB's political agenda, even though President Lula has shown personal interest in helping quilombos, especially in the area of land reform. However, granting land to quilombos is just the beginning. To develop and modernize quilombos will require that the GOB, for years to come, pay special attention to these communities. Public service facilities, utilities, job training, and infrastructure are just a few of the many basics quilombos still lack. END COMMENT.

BRAZIL'S INDIANS - PART II: INDIAN CONCERNS

SUBJECT: BRAZIL'S INDIANS - PART II: INDIAN CONCERNS

REF: A. BRASILIA 0941

¶B. BRASILIA 0946

Classified By: Poloff David G. Mosby for reasons 1.4 B/D.

¶1. (U) This is Part II of a three-part series about Indians in Brazil. This cable reviews the concerns of indigenous leaders. Part I provides an overview and Part III discusses ongoing land disputes.

¶2. (C) Summary. During the 2002 presidential campaign Lula spoke about Indian rights and promised to demarcate and register Indian lands quickly. As a result, Indian leaders and indigenous rights activists were optimistic that many of the longstanding grievances of Brazil's Indians would finally become a GoB priority. However, numerous Indian leaders feel that since Lula took office, he has not paid sufficient attention to their issues. Many express disappointment and even a sense of betrayal. The growing Indian disputes of the last few months, during which time Indians have clashed with farmers and prospectors, in some cases violently, in several states, has served to strengthen these impressions. The president of the GoB's Indian affairs agency defends the government's record but acknowledgs that Lula has not completely lived up to expectations. End summary.

Indian Government Officials Criticize Lula ------------------------------------------

¶3. (C) Antonio Apurina, Director of Assistance Programs for FUNAI (the GoB's Indian agency) and the only Indian in a senior position anywhere in the GoB, harshly criticized President Lula during a February meeting with Poloff. Apurina, a chief of the Apurina tribe and an "alternate" senator for the state of Acre, and Jose da Silva-Jaminawa Tunoma, a chief of the Jaminawa Indians and FUNAI's Chief of Station in Acre, told us the Lula government has not developed a policy to address the problems of Indians in Brazil.

¶4. (C) Apurina said he was "not impressed" with his boss, Mercio Pereira, President of FUNAI. Despite Pereira's background as an anthropologist and specialist in Indian affairs, Apurina accused him of patronizing Indians and said he and Lula are not genuinely interested in dialogue with Indian leaders. He said Indians were disappointed that Lula chose not to appoint the first Indian president of FUNAI and emphasized that he himself is the only Indian senior FUNAI official --criticizing the fact that an Indian had not been placed in charge of Land Issues Directorate, the most powerful of FUNAI's directorates. Apurina said the Lula government has not developed a plan for economic development on reservations and criticized IBAMA, Brazil's environmental protection agency, for contributing to underdevelopment by trying to maintain Indian reservations as de facto nature preserves.

¶5. (C) Apurina said that earlier this year he and several other Indian leaders were invited to speak with Cesar Alvares, Undersecretary General of the Presidency, about the developing Indian crisis, but Apurina said Indian leaders are "sick of talking." Moreover, he was critical of the fact that none of the ministries responsible for improving the conditions of Indians in Brazil (e.g., Justice, Education, Labor, Health, etc.) attended the meeting. The Indians raised a series of concerns with Alvares, who was unable to make any commitments in response. As a result, several of the Indian leaders thought "the meeting was useless," according to Apurina.

Lula - "Disappointment" for Indian Rights NGOs --------------------------------------------- -

¶6. (SBU) Andre Lima, head of the Brazilian NGO "Instituto Socio-Ambiental", which advocates for protection of the environmental and Indian rights, told Poloff that the Lula government has been a "great disappointment." And Jose Eden Pereira Magalhaes, head of the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI), a Catholic NGO that advocates for Indian rights, told us (unlike Apurina, above, who is "sick of talking") that the "government does not speak with the Indians."

¶7. (SBU) All four interlocutors commented on the GOB's unnecessary and politically motivated delays in registering indigenous lands. They feel that Lula's quest for a congressional majority has made him unwilling to antagonize powerful politicians from states with significant Indian populations by finalizing the demarcation process. These politicians are beholden to major landowners (or are landowners themselves). Lula, they say, is the first Brazilian president since the 1988 Constitution to reduce the size of an indigenous territory surveyed and demarcated by FUNAI.

Ending the Government's Guardianship of Indians --------------------------------------------- --

¶8. (SBU) These interlocutors also opined that the GOB's Indian problem goes deeper than the question of land. The greater issue is respect for Indians. They explained that the lack of respect is the legacy of a patronizing system of "tutela" --government guardianship-- of Indians that existed before the 1988 Constitution and, in certain respects, still exists today. Despite the Constitution, much of the old legislation --which essentially treats Indians as wards of the state-- remains in force, according to Lima.

FUNAI President Sympathetic But Defends Government --------------------------------------------- -----

¶9. (C) On March 12, Poloff met with Mercio Pereira, president of FUNAI, to discuss the criticisms by the Indian leaders and NGOs. When asked if their assessment was fair, Mendes replied, "It's fair, but it's not fair," acknowledging that Lula had greatly raised expectations and has not lived up to them. However, he emphasized, "this government is doing as much, if not more than the previous government."

¶10. (C) Pereira rejected criticism of Lula for not appointing an Indian as president of FUNAI. "Which tribe would you chose from? There are more than 200 tribes," he said, adding that, "If Lula had picked an Indian as president of FUNAI, there easily could have been violence between Indian tribes." While acknowledging the final registration of the controversial Raposa/Serra do Sol in Roraima state (see Part III of this series) has been delayed for "political reasons," Gomes said the Lula government has finished the demarcation process for all the other territories that were pending when Lula came to office and has moved forward on new demarcations. Asked if the Lula government would fulfill its promise of finishing the demarcation process in four years, Gomes said, "I was optimistic before. Now, I don't know. The government is fragile now because of scandals. It will probably take two terms to completely demarcate and register the final 30 percent."

¶11. (C) Comment. Some Indian leaders and indigenous rights activists feel betrayed by Lula and the PT. They expected this government to be more aggressive on their issues and are disappointed with progress so far. While Indians make up less than one percent of Brazil's population, they hold powerful symbolic value in Brazilian culture and society. Being accused of being insensitive to their concerns is not an enviable position for President Lula.

CAN A ROAD SAVE THE AMAZON?

SUBJECT: CAN A ROAD SAVE THE AMAZON? THE BR-163

BRASILIA 00001657 001.2 OF 002

REFTEL: (A) 05 BRASILIA 598,
(B) 05 BRASILIA 2426

¶1. Summary: BR-163 is an unpaved highway located in Brazil's Amazon Forest which leads from the city of Santarem, in the state of Para, to Cuiaba, Mato Grosso. While abandoned for the past three decades, it has once again become a government priority for the development of that area. The region is home to three large hydrographic basins, and is one of the most productive agricultural areas of the country, especially in terms of soybean production. However, the road provides a challenge for the GoB to demonstrate that it can sustainably develop the Amazon and mitigate the construction's potential environmental impacts. End Summary

¶2. The Santarem - Cuiaba road (BR-163) was initially built in 1973 and is approximately 1,756 km long, with roughly 956 km, as of yet, unpaved. If paved, BR-163 would create a more direct route to port for the region's agricultural products, reducing transportation distances by half and representing an estimated 20% decrease in transportation costs for Brazilian soybean producers. Brazil's agricultural boom and the subsequent producer pressure to decrease shipping costs have made paving BR-163 a strategic initiative in terms of both regional and national development. In addition to agribusiness, local politicians and entrepreneurs argue that the road would facilitate the transportation of electronic products from the industrial center in Manaus to markets in the South of the country.

¶3. Even though there are these economic advantages to building the road, there remains significant concern of social and environmental damages associated with its construction. The first time BR-163 was built there was very little planning, which resulted in deforestation, unorganized migration and social conflicts that lead to a considerable increase in violent crime including homicides in the region. This time around, rural communities are demanding government planning in order to minimize impacts from land speculation, predatory exploitation, social violence and environmental degradation. Initial pronouncements surrounding the road's paving caused the area's population to increase by 6% between 1996 and 2000 and recent announcements about the road's future led to a 500% increase in deforestation in the towns along the BR-163. Studies show that road construction and the resulting population surplus generate land problems and, many times, uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources.

¶4. Related to development, land titling and speculation have been historical woes in the Amazon Basin. The process of land occupation in the region started in the 1940s. Mining, cattle ranching and logging were considered the ideal occupational activities for a location that was considered a "demographic blank" that needed to be developed and occupied. Most land occupation was done illegally, without any government control and often within Indigenous Territories. This problem has become so serious that social conflicts and human deaths have been part of the issue and continue to occur, as evidenced by the death of Dorothy Stang last year (Ref A). Unclear land tenure in the region also played and continues to play a central role in the present rate of deforestation. The lack of monitoring and government enforcement, the cheap price of land and high economic return, along with the expansion of soybean production and cattle grazing are all considered obstacles to sustainable development.

¶5. While paving BR-163 has become one of the Lula Administration's priorities, the GoB is attempting to avoid many of the mistakes previously made. With USAID support, local grassroots movements, NGOs and civil society organizations conducted, in 2003, a series of participatory workshops designed to discuss regional development options for the BR-163 region. This was part of the impetus behind the "Santarem Letter" which the BR-163 NGO network presented to the GoB in March 2004. The Letter outlined the actions that the GoB needed to implement in order for the paving to take place in a sustainable manner. After receiving the letter, the GoB convened a technical working group responsible for elaborating a document that establishes the actions and planning necessary for the construction of the highway.

¶6. In paving BR-163, the government's goal is to show that it is possible to develop the Amazon region sustainably. To this end, they have created two new policies. The first is known as the BR-163 Sustainable Plan and involved the work of 17 Brazilian ministries. The plan's initial actions include putting into practice some emergency procedures to intensify the State's presence and public authority in the region. Some of these procedures include supplementary forest inspections and raising the number of personnel in the area. Additional measures are being implemented to ensure public safety, land organization and environmental monitoring, to name a few. Compensational actions for environmental BRASILIA 00001657 002.2 OF 002 hazards and integrated policies, amongst all the states involved, for regional development are also found in the pan. The plan covers seventy one cities: 28 of tem are in the state of Para, 37 in Mato Grosso and 6 in Amazonas covering a total area of 1,23 milion square kilometers. This area corresponds to 2.6% of the total Legal Amazon Region and 14.47% f the nation's territory. Little of the Plan has in fact, been put into practice, due to continued discussions concerning environmental impacts and otential complications. Many communities and NGs fear that the plan looks good on paper, but ma never be implemented.

¶7. Complementing the BR163 Sustainable Plan is the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amaon, which promotes a new development model for te Amazon region based on social inclusion, cultural diversity and economic development. Sustainable use of natural resources will be encouraged through financial incentives, the implementation of environmentally sustainable structure and the recovery of degraded forest areas. In June 2006, the GoB officially implemented the 16 million hectare BR-163 forest district which utilizes the Action Plan and will incorporate Brazil's new forest concessions law (Ref B). The district will receive investments for sustainable development and production of forest products. GoB has promised to invest US$30 million in infrastructure and public land mapping for the BR-163 forest district. Economic development will proceed through managed logging and controlled utilization of forest resources. Brazil's Minister of Environment Marina Silva was quoted as saying that "building this road means that environment and development are working together."

¶8. The creation of the BR-163 Sustainable Plan involves not only government officials, but also the agricultural sector, NGOs, local communities and business. If the actions in the plan are actually put into practice, little resistance from local community members is likely. On the other hand, the current lack of private sector partners interested in paving the road might hamstring the project. Yet, in June, President Lula reinforced his promise to begin constructing the road saying that by the end of this year the laws with all the conditions and requirements to begin the work will be ready.

¶9. Nevertheless, recent events highlight how tentative BR-163 plans still are. In May 2006, Brazil's Minister of National Integration, Pedro Brito do Nascimento, announced that the Government, together with the Army Engineering Forces, would begin paving the road this year through a Public and Private Sector Partnership (PPP). Prior to the announcement, the expectation was that paving would have started in the beginning of this year. As th project will rely on funding from the private sctor, many environmentalists do not believe that the road will actually be paved. Recent GoB estimates evaluate the total cost to pave BR-163 will be US$ 500 million and the project will take two to three years to conclude. The GoB once again promises that paving will now take place in the beginning of next year, sometime after the election.

¶10. Still other events underscore the problematic nature of the paving project. Just last week, approximately 200 Indians blocked the Santa Helena to Itaba part of the BR-163 for two days. Claiming that Indigenous demands were not included in the BR-163 Sustainable plan, the tribe was demanding additional protections of their lands during the paving period. As a result of the blockade, Par and Mato Grosso were isolated and faced shortages of supplies including fuels and food. The Caiaps Indian tribe leader, Megaron Txucarrmce claims that the development of cities (along BR163) is encroaching on Indigenous Lands. The trbe is against paving BR-163 unless Indigenous lad delimitation takes place before the paving begns.

¶11. Comment: The new sustainable economic/environment development model of the Amazon remains a controversial issue due to the enormous forest destruction that took place in the past and demands from rural and indigenous communities that still have to be considered. BR-163 could be the start of a successful development model, if its Sustainable Plan is actually implemented and the GoB has the necessary funding for its paving. Many, NGOs included, now see hope, as the GoB's efforts could provide a possible solution to the region's land speculation, deforestation and development difficulties. Paving BR-163 is definitely not the solution to all problems of the Amazon Region, but in case it works the beginning of a new phase for the sustainable management of the Forest could be starting. End Comment