The Government installed the first Technical Roundtable for Life and Peace in Bajo Cauca, in which it announced the launch of a comprehensive program to address the situation in this area of the country, accompanied by an initial investment of more than $386,000 millions.
In total there will be 63 initiatives, projects and programmatic actions, which have the participation of 24 entities from the mining, environment, agriculture, transportation, information technology, science and technology, justice and interior sectors.
Among the measures, it stands out that, starting next April 24, the Ministry of Mines and Energy will lead, together with regional, agricultural and environmental authorities, the process of characterization of the mining population in the entire Bajo Cauca region. This work will be complemented by the identification of areas where environmentally responsible mining can be carried out and that allows the diversification of other productive activities.
“Together with the mining authority, the purification of the mining cadastre in the region will be carried out to reserve areas that allow the individual and collective formalization of the small miners of Bajo Cauca. We are all the national entities guaranteeing the institutional offer of the Government to meet the needs of the population and continue accompanying them in this process “ said the Vice Minister (e) of Mines, Johana Rocha.
Both the characterization of the miners and the identification of territories available for productive diversification are processes that will take about two months to complete their analysis. At the end of this period, a new call will be made to present the results to the communities.
These conclusions will allow the National Mining Agency and the Antioquia Secretariat of Mines to advance a strategy that accelerates mining formalization, for this, a satellite office of the entities will be installed in the region.
“The National Government will identify knowledge, science, and technology alternatives that will improve mining exploitation, the benefit of precious metals, and the restoration of territories degraded by mining activity in the region, where communities will play an important role,” Rocha pointed out. .