Santa Catarina: People of Rincão consider compensation request for victims and families of methanol in 1986

The intention was revealed to Inforpress by the spokesperson for the population and family, Ricardo Fidalgo, who informed that this request will be made through a petition addressed to the National Assembly, and was presented to the Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, on Tuesday -Friday, 06.

Ingestion of methanol, a product used to cool aircraft engines, caused eight deaths and around 30 people were hospitalized.

The ingested product was found by three fishermen in a drum that was floating a mile off the coast, coming from the motor ship “Ilha do Sal”, which ran aground in the town of Baixo Galão, island of Maio.

Thirty-eight years later, according to the population of Rincão, there is no news that anyone or institutions have been held responsible for the tragedy of August 1986, which mourned the once community that saved thousands of people in the famine of 47 and which together with Ribeira da Barca played an important role in mobilizing the struggle for national liberation.

Ricardo Fidalgo said that this initiative is justified by the fact that the State is responsible for what happened in this quiet village in the interior of Santiago, because the maritime authorities did not collect the fuel drums or issue alerts to the fishing communities about what happened.

He also added that this financial pension already awarded in similar cases is justified, because, as he insisted, these people were harmed because of the low level of education and because the State itself had “great negligence” that led to the loss of these human lives.

“After 38 years, we only ask for compensation for the victims and families of those who lost lives and also effectively for social rehabilitation and restoration programs for those people who went through this process, because there was clearly collective trauma that requires rehabilitation and restoration programs,” he declared.

According to him, the maritime authorities should have collected the drums and sent warning signals to the fishing communities, when the ship “Ilha do Sal” had sunk on the island of Maio and thrown the fuel drums into the sea, but not the he did.

"The collection was only carried out after the tragedy in Rincão. This means that human life was less important than material damage. Therefore, in this case, the State had responsibilities and there was clearly great negligence on the part of the State and responsibilities were not removed” , he lamented.

On Tuesday, 6th, the Santa Catarina City Council and the Government paid tribute to the victims of the methanol tragedy in August 1986 with a monument in the fishing village of Rincão.

The memorial, built as part of the rehabilitation works on the Rincão seafront, which were also inaugurated on Tuesday, is joined by another in honor of Mamazinha Ferreira (iron and harmonica).

In addition to the tribute to Mamazinha Ferreira, the population of Rincão, according to Ricardo Fidalgo, as a way of preserving memory and valuing the contribution made by the Ferreira family in the internationalization of the funaná musical genre based on harmonica and fero, calls for a harmonica and iron museum or an interpretive center.