The Renova Foundation, which is undertaking the rehabilitation and compensation programs related to the Fundao Dam failure in Brazil in November 2015, has received the final two outstanding licences to begin the construction of New Bento Rodrigues.

The approvals from the Secretariat of State for Cities and Regional Integration (Secir) and the municipality of Mariana were received on 1 August 2018. They give the green light for the Foundation to initiate the work on the land of Lavoura, an area chosen by the affected community for resettlement.

The first steps will be vegetation suppression and earthworks on the land, followed by infrastructure works such as drainage, sewage networks, water, energy distribution and paving. After this stage, the homes and public facilities will be built. Meetings between impacted people and architects to design the houses started at the end of May.

The construction of Bento Rodrigues will follow the guidelines agreed upon in the project, which took into consideration the needs of those affected, such as the neighborly relations, the patrimonial and cultural memory of Bento Rodrigues, respecting the new land’s specificities. 

The land area of approximately 100 hectares will receive 225 impacted families. For BHP the resettlement program is a priority and we are very pleased to reach this major milestone as we work to rebuild the communities that were impacted by the Samarco tragedy.