July 30, 2021

12:07

Déborah Arruda – from Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – Representative of the Manaus City Hall in the revision of the new Environmental Code, the agronomist engineer Antonio Stroski became the subject of an accusation by the Public Ministry of Accounts (MPC) for lack of transparency in the process that changes rules in works and constructions in the capital of Amazonas.

The municipal secretary of Environment and Sustainability (Semmas), now, is obliged to explain to the Court of Amazonas State Accounts (TCE-AM) about the lack of compliance with legal principles in public consultation held to review and update the code.

The accusation was made by the MPC prosecutor, Ruy Marcelo, who claimed that were not located the edict or administrative act of regulation and call for public consultation held by Semmas. According to the prosecutor, information was requested about the existence of the consultation edict.

Barroso, also, asked for the insertion in the Manaus City Hall website of comparative text between the code in force and the changes in the proposed revision, but there was no response from the environmental agency. The request was made before the end of the consultation period, which was held between June 1st and July 1st.

The MPC prosecutor also reported a lack of compliance with Article 19 of the Law of Introduction to the Brazilian Civil Code, which provides that in any body or power, the issue of normative acts by administrative authority may be preceded by public consultation for the manifestation of interested parties, preferably by electronic means, which will be used for the decision.

Stroski was invited to present his defense and has up to five working days to manifest himself. The CENARIUM reporting team contacted the Semmas press office, which did not answer any of the questions.

A troubled past

Antonio Stroski was the target of operation of the Federal Police (PF) and the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) less than three years ago to be a suspect of being part of a corruption scheme in environmental licensing in the Amazon, when he was president of the Institute of Environmental Protection (Ipaam).

In January this year, the appointment of Stroski to the Municipal Environment Secretary by the new mayor of Manaus, David Almeida (Avante), took amazonian environmentalists by surprise, according to reports published by CENARIUM.

During the PF investigation, the environmental engineer was accused of not standing up for the exportation of wood with a fraudulent Forest Origin Document (DOF). His arrest was requested by the Federal Prosecutor, Leonardo Galiano. The process is still in progress.

Environmental Code

The environmentalist Carlos Durigan explained that the Environmental Code of Manaus was established in 2001 and establishes the parameters as well as the very structure for the performance of municipal public management in the theme of environment. For Durigan, it would be ideal if there was in fact a public call for popular participation, besides taking advantage of the moment to clarify the population on the subject.

“It is essential to define the guidelines for the actions of municipal institutions, as well as to define the lines of action. I understand that its revision and updating can be beneficial, after all, it has been in existence for almost 20 years, but this process needs to be as inclusive as possible and also to take advantage of the moment to clarify to the population the importance of their participation in this review, as well as in its implementation, since the environmental management must also have the society’s support in the monitoring of its implementation”, he said.

Durigan also said that the lack of publicity to the code update is harmful to environmental management. “It is worrying that there is such a short period for manifestations and a lack of clarity about how the updating process will be carried out without the active participation of social representations. We run the risk that the update, without the proper care and monitoring, can bring changes that weaken even more the environmental management of our city”, he said.