The Public Ministry of Pará (MP-PA) recommended that the state’s Military Police adopt measures to at least double the number of agents in the Environmental Policing Command.
According to a document sent to the corporation commander, the objective is to assist in “criminal repression, prevention and combating fires that have spread in the territory of the state of Pará”.
The recommendation is signed by prosecutor Gilberto Valente Martins, responsible for the Military Justice prosecutor’s office.
According to Martins, the current contingent linked to the Environmental Policing Command is 250 soldiers to operate throughout the state.
The recommendation to reinforce the performance of environmental policing was made in a procedure established on September 19 to monitor and inspect the actions of the Military Police and the Pará Fire Department in forest fires.
During the procedure, the MP-PA also requested information from the state Environment and Public Security secretariats on fire occurrences, open investigations and measures taken.
HAS CNNthe government of Pará said that it had not yet been notified of the procedure. “The state has not yet been notified and informs that the Pará Military Fire Department works with 587 military personnel to prevent and combat forest fires,” he stated.
Fires
According to the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainability of Pará, the number of personnel employed to fight fires was 488, between May and September. Of the total, 460 are state firefighters.
The information was provided in a hearing with Minister Flávio Dino, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), last Thursday (19).
Pará was the second state most affected by fires in August, according to data from Fire Monitor, an initiative by the MapBiomas network coordinated by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (Ipam).
During the month, 919,473 hectares were affected by fire. The state was only behind Mato Grosso, with 1,716,922 hectares burned.
According to data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), Pará is also the second state in the country with the most outbreaks from January to September 23, 2024: 35,468.
Belém, the capital of Pará, will host COP 30, the United Nations (UN) Conference on climate change, in November 2025.
At the end of August, Governor Helder Barbalho (MDB) declared an emergency situation in the state, prohibiting the use of fire, including for cleaning and managing areas.
Last Tuesday (17), the government declared a state of emergency to combat the drought and fires.
