The skyline of Brasilia Beach, a once-touristy place that has long been chronically neglected, has acquired an unusual element: two transatlantic luxury liners have docked close to each other, in Otero Port, an area of Belém 40 minutes from the central pavilion that hosts the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30).
Porto and the beach are located side by side, at the meeting of two bays, Guajara and Marajó. The traffic of cargo ships in the port, combined with garbage, sewage and insecurity, has turned the beach into a forgotten place.
The presence of luxury ships on the riverbank – something unprecedented in the region, and one of the distinctive artificial elements of the COP30 – restored the movement of people on the shore of Brasilia.
Public authorities were not prepared for what would happen on the beach, located in a peripheral neighborhood in Otero, which was accustomed to the absence of the state. Since the ocean liners docked in the area last week, the place has once again become a tourist spot, due to the natural scenery created by the two cruise ships, with a capacity of 6,000 accommodation beds.
Brasilia Beach was not prepared for the increased movement of people. There were no chemical toilets, not enough police, and no help from firefighters in the early days of the new project, according to beach area residents. There was also a lack of infrastructure for catering and basic lighting at night.
It was necessary to improvise, with a large number of street vendors in the beach area.
As President Lula (PT) led the official opening of the 30th COP on Monday (10), in the pavilion set up in Parque da Cidade, more people arrived at Brasilia beach to see the transatlantic lines and spend the day in an area that has not seen much action for a long time.
Interest in the place should end when the ships continue their courses at the end of COP 30. This part of Outeiro did not undergo any urban transformation at the COP.
Report from Bound He was on the beach in Brasilia, next to the port of Otero, in January and returned to the scene on Monday. Residents of the region’s neighborhoods depend on septic tanks due to the lack of a sewage collection network. Lack of clean water in the tap. Massive erosion is pushing residents further up the river.
“This erosion issue has been forgotten,” says Damiris Lorena Monteiro, 29, who lives with her husband, Bruno Barbosa dos Santos, 29, and their children in a wooden hanging house in the beach area. “The focus here is on COP30.”
The report had already spoken to Dameris in January, when expanding the port of Otero to receive transatlantic ships was still a project. The adjustments have been made, the luxury cruises have docked, COP30 has officially launched, and the reality of the place remains the same – except for the huge movement of people to see the ships.
“When it rains, the water flows here,” says Bruno. “There should be more drains.”
This water carries garbage, which is repeated throughout the first half of the year, during the very rainy Amazon winter. Dameris highlighted this problem in January: “When the tide goes out, all kinds of rubbish collect here. There are a lot of plastic bottles.”
The progress of corrosion, which remains unresolved, is hampering the movement of buses on the streets.
Throughout the year, the government of Pará and the city of Belém paved roads in Otero, marking the area’s anniversary in April, with the announcement of asphalt and sanitation interventions on 14 streets.
The port was an improvised option for the arrival of cruise ships – also an improvisation, a way to try to expand the supply of beds at the UN Climate Change Conference – after the Lula and Parra governments, led by Helder Barbalo (MDB), backed away from the initial idea.
The ships will dock in the port of Belém, a very central area next to the Estação das Docas. In order for transatlantic ships to reach the port, it will be necessary to carry out dredging works in Guajara Bay at a cost of R$210.3 million, removing 6.14 million cubic meters of dredged material. Sediments will be deposited in Marago Bay.
Faced with the expected environmental impacts, governments abandoned the idea and began redesigning and expanding the port of Otero.
Guests across the Atlantic have little contact with Brasilia beach, the nearby streets and life of the area. There is private transportation from the port to the COP30 pavilion, and a few people from the ships spend a few hours on the beach.
In the opposite direction, the curiosity for cruises is enormous. Dameris says she thinks it will continue like this until the end of COP 30, something she can barely follow or understand. “We’ve already had some people from Rio, Japan and China on board here,” she says. “By next week, we will have a water, beer and barbecue sale here.”
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