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Federal Court ruling demands diagnosis, work plan, land regularization, and resident participation to curb the deterioration of Fordlândia, a district created by Henry Ford in Pará and marked by decades of abandonment
The Federal Court has ordered the Union, Iphan, the Government of Pará, and the Municipality of Aveiro to present measures to recover Fordlândia, a historic district created by Henry Ford in 1927 in southwestern Pará. The decision responds to the Federal Public Ministry and establishes deadlines, responsibilities, and fines to curb the deterioration of the heritage. The information was released by G1.
Fordlândia will have a diagnosis and recovery plan
The ruling obliges the four public entities to work together in preserving the urban, architectural, and landscape ensemble of Fordlândia.
The joint responsibility means that the Union, Iphan, the Government of Pará, and the Municipality of Aveiro must respond for the necessary actions to prevent further degradation.
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The first deadline set by the Court is 90 days. During this period, an updated diagnosis of the conservation status of the district’s historic buildings must be presented.
The survey should include emblematic constructions such as the old hospital, already in ruins, the industrial warehouses, the Port Warehouse, the American Village houses, the convent, the Henry Ford school, and the Cine Patinha, which recently suffered a roof collapse.
The assessment also includes the old worker villages, part of the ensemble that marked the attempt to establish, in the heart of the Pará Amazon, a rubber production base aimed at the United States automotive industry.
District created by Henry Ford has lived with abandonment for decades
Fordlândia was built in 1927 by the American entrepreneur Henry Ford. The project aimed to produce rubber in the Amazon to supply the automotive industry in the United States and reduce dependence on the English monopoly over the product.
The venture failed, and in 1945, the lands and buildings were transferred to the Brazilian government. Since then, the district has experienced decades of abandonment, deterioration, and lack of effective preservation policies.
In the ruling, the court emphasized that the Union is the primary owner of the heritage. Even so, the protection of historical and cultural assets is a shared obligation between the Union, states, and municipalities, according to the Federal Constitution.
The judge also pointed out prolonged omission by public agencies, even after a preservation agreement was signed in 2010 between the Government of Pará and the Municipality of Aveiro. The initiative did not result in concrete conservation actions.
Plan must indicate works, resources, and emergency measures
Besides the diagnosis, the decision sets a 180-day deadline for the preparation of a Recovery and Conservation Plan.
The document must detail actions per property, a physical-financial schedule, division of responsibilities, and sources of resources.
The plan must also foresee emergency measures for structures at risk of collapse. After judicial approval, the works must begin within 30 days.
The court also ordered the Superintendence of Union Heritage in Pará to complete, within 120 days, the land regularization of the remaining properties of the so-called “Fordlândia Physical Base.”
This pending issue has been used over the years as a justification for the absence of public interventions in the district.
Fines and community participation
If the deadlines are not met, the ruling sets daily fines of R$ 10,000 for the Union and Iphan. For the Government of Pará and the Municipality of Aveiro, the fine is R$ 5,000 per day.
The decision also mandates the participation of community residents and the Federal Public Defender’s Office in discussions about the preservation and regularization of inhabited areas.
During the process, the MPF requested that Iphan complete the federal heritage listing of Fordlândia, initiated in 1990. However, in May 2024, the Iphan Advisory Council denied the listing of the area.
Even without the listing, the court understood that the obligation to preserve the historical heritage remains.
The ruling states that expert reports, public hearings, and judicial inspections proved the historical, architectural, and cultural value of Fordlândia, recognized as a heritage of national and international significance.
This article was prepared based on information from the Federal Public Ministry and the Federal Court ruling, with data, numbers, and statements preserved according to the consulted material.
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