The Vice Minister of the Interior, Gustavo García, led the installation of a series of technical tables for dialogue, work and concertation to address the proposals for the Mining District that is planned to be established in the Bajo Cauca and Northeast Antioqueño region.
In the municipalities of Caucasia, Cáceres, El Bagre, Nechí, Tarazá and Zaragoza, the communities were heard to advance in the formation of the Mining, productive and economic transformation District for the benefit of the inhabitants and the region in sustainable and income aspects.
The sessions held on Thursday, March 30 and Friday, March 31 –in coordination with the Ministries of the Interior, Environment and Sustainable Development, and Mines and Energy, and the accompaniment of departmental and local authorities–, raised and cleared initiatives within the framework of the respect for the ecosystem and the strengthening of the productive apparatus, as well as labor and safety guarantees for those people who work in ancestral and artisanal mining within the framework established by law.
Around 2,250 people participated in the tables set up, including representatives of different economic and social sectors, such as miners, fishermen, beekeepers, merchants, teachers, indigenous people, Afro-descendants, women, youth, people with disabilities, the elderly, Community Action Boards, community organizations, leadershuman rights defenders, environmentalists and delegates from different churches.
Themes of dialogue and delivery of humanitarian aid
In these conferences, themes such as the humanitarian situation and Total Peace, mining and productive district, agriculture and fishing, socio-environmental, educational and ecological restoration, and a differential approach were established.
“We lead the appropriation of the citizenship of the Bajo Cauca mining and productive district project, we seek effective solutions born from the territory for a rapid and sustainable transition”indicated Vice Minister García on his social networks.
In the midst of these participatory construction sessions, the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), with the support of the Military Forces, delivered humanitarian aid and cleaning kits that will relieve nearly 400,000 people who were affected by the blockades and mobilizations of the mining strike carried out in this region of Antioquia.
In this sense, 4,500 humanitarian aid kits were delivered to the communities of the municipalities of Caucasia, Tarazá, Cáceres, El Bagre, Zaragoza and Nechí. Of these, 2,470 through the mayoralties and 2,030 through the parishes
Bajo Cauca is a priority for the Government
Regarding this dialogue exercise, the Ministry of Mines and Energy indicated through its Twitter account: “The problems of the mining community in Bajo Cauca are a priority for the Government. We have advanced 5 days in the last month, together with the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of the Interior, local authorities and representatives of the community, to seek joint solutions”.
He added that aware of the urgent needs of the community, the National Government has proposed a transition measure with support and subsidies, which will allow the characterization and mining formalization process to advance for a just energy transition.
He stressed that, for this reason, the progressive transformation of Bajo Cauca is sought, since “mineral resources are finite”, so that “Achieving economic, environmental and cultural transitions that involve all productive sectors and the victims will be the objective.”
Likewise, the Ministry of Mines reiterated that within the agreements it is established that the population will have an emergency humanitarian response, which is beginning to reach the region.
In addition, the Government of Change works to improve education and has proposed the construction of a university in the territory. Regarding economic diversification, an ecological restoration strategy is projected in municipalities of Bajo Cauca, which is a source of work for its population.