Reports from Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo bring updates on the progress of works and actions carried out with future residents
The new edition of the Bento Rodrigues Report brings up-to-date news on the functioning of the new district, which is preparing to receive the first families. The reconstruction of the entire space relied on the protagonism of the residents, who closely follow each stage of this work.
The same happens in Paracatu de Baixo. The community is present in all stages of the resettlement process and began, at the end of last year, to participate in activities in the new district to create social and emotional bonds with the place and meet friends again. The last Paracatu de Baixo Report of 2022 provides details of the actions carried out.
Check below the evolution of the two new districts.
Bento Rodrigues
The works continue at a fast pace, however, work during the night and on Sundays will be closed to reduce noise, starting with the first rellocations of families. So far, seven collective properties are completed, including the Assembly of God, São Bento and Encontro Squares. The construction of the Churches of Mercês and São Bento started. The Health Center was one of the first goods for collective use to be completed. Now, the structure is being equipped to serve the families, who will have access to several free services, such as general clinical care, physiotherapy, dentistry and other specialties.
With around 3,800 m², the Bento Rodrigues Municipal School is being structured to receive students. The site is equipped with capture of rainwater to be used in activities such as irrigating the garden, washing hands, washing the floors and flushing the toilet, and has 12 classrooms, a multipurpose room, a laboratory, a gym, a canteen and a patio, in addition to administrative and service areas.
Tour of the new community
With the relocation of future residents coming soon, some essential services began to be operationalized, such as the Water and Sewage Treatment Stations (ETE and ETA), which have been in operation since December. The ETE has a structure prepared for 100% biological operation and has the capacity to serve 1,200 people.
Families will be able to count on a municipal bus line to make the trip to the center of Mariana and vice versa. Two water trucks and two sweeping machines will frequently water and clean the streets. The Municipality of Mariana will sweep the streets once a week, and the Renova Foundation will guarantee another team to sweep and wet the roads three more times in the period. Common garbage collection is also guaranteed on Mondays and Thursdays, starting at 10 am, and selective collection will be every Monday, starting at 9 am.
For community safety, the Municipal Civil Guard will be present on the streets, at the service station and by telephone number 153. The agents will also monitor everything through the central, through security cameras that will be spread throughout the district. Follow updates on the page dedicated to Resettlements.
Paracatu de Baixo
Families ended the year with a get-together in the new district. Carried out in cooperation with Unesco, the activity brought together the community for the second time in a party with live music, raffles and games. One of the highlights was the presentation of the students who participated in the Casa dos Saberes music workshop. For this year, a series of activities are planned with the families so that they take more and more ownership of the district.
The procession of the “Folia de Reis” festival of Paracatu de Baixo passed through several communities, singing verses of faith and devotion, accompanied by the cry of the accordion and the drumming of the percussion. From the 26th of December to the 6th of January, the flag of the Child Jesus, the main symbol of the tradition, followed in front of the entourage, arousing emotion in everyone –
especially in Nié, Elias and Maria Geralda, sons of Mr. Zezinho, who are at the head of the community’s Folia. “ It was a great pleasure to gather my brothers and make the journey that my father used to do, the way he asked. We were well received everywhere and we were happy”, says the master of Folia, Antônio Geraldo de Oliveira, Nié.
Tour around the community
The works also continue in Paracatu de Baixo. In addition to 39 completed houses, another 16 are under construction, as well as collective use assets. So far, ten public facilities are under construction. This is the case of the Community Hall, which continues with works focused on masonry, flooring, electrical and plumbing installations and on the roof. The site is being built so that families have an exclusive space to carry out their activities. In addition to a hall for parties and other events, the space will have two classrooms, one for sound and lighting and the other for administration, as well as deposits, pantry, kitchen, locker room and accessible bathrooms.
After undergoing restoration work, the Sao Caetano Musical Society School Museum, also known as Casa da Banda, was delivered, in December 2022, to the district of Monsenhor Horta, close to the resettlement of Paracatu de Baixo.The space will house part of the musical collection of the historic city, belonging to the Sao Caetano Musical Society, one of the first bands in Brazil. Now, the property will house part of the collection of scores and documents of the band, which is the oldest in the Inconfidentes region, the third in Minas Gerais and the fourth in Brazil.
See how the new communities are getting on in the Virtual Tour and access the Reparation Data to follow the progress of the works.