Cerrejón completes the delivery of 25,000 food baskets and announces the distribution of a further 25,000

After completing the delivery of 25,000 food baskets, Cerrejón has begun delivering an additional 25,000 baskets that will continue to benefit over 350 ethnic communities in the municipalities of Uribia, Maicao, Albania, Manaure, Barrancas, and Hatonuevo during the COVID-19 emergency.

On this occasion, half of these food baskets will be purchased from suppliers in La Guajira, and they will contain selected products to meet the specific needs of these communities. The total of 50,000 food baskets delivered by Cerrejón will complement the aid of 52,000 food baskets distributed up until now by the central government in the department.

“Although the emergency situation is expanding, Cerrejón maintains its commitment with La Guajira. We have just completed delivery of 25,000 food baskets, and we are going to invest an additional one billion pesos to be combined with the monies collected by our employees in the Corporate Volunteers. This will allow us to make another delivery and reach 50,000 food baskets benefiting the ethnic communities in this region. Thus, we continue to aid the department in safely complying with the preventive lockdown and reducing the risk of spreading COVID-19”, affirmed Luis Marulanda, vice president of Cerrejón’s Public Affairs and Communications.

In recent days, the Cerrejón volunteer group has raised over 107 million pesos to purchase food baskets for communities in the area of influence. This figure, as announced, will be matched by a company donation.

Furthermore, Cerrejón has developed strict guidelines for community engagement, designed specifically to prevent the risk of infection in delivering the aid. First, the company plans to deliver the food only to people who are complying with preventive isolation.

To deliver the aid, we have been in touch with the leaders of each community to notify them that, as a protective measure for all, only the head of each family may be present. In addition, we request no presence of adults aged over 70, no children, or anyone with any type of illness. Likewise, biosafety measures and protocols are used on the vehicles transporting the foodstuffs and the people delivering them. At the moment of delivery, two-metre safety distances are kept, hygiene items will be available (hand disinfectant), and everyone will be wearing a mask. Finally, together with the food baskets, recommendations are provided on health and hygiene in Wayuunaiki to raise awareness on how to handle this disease.

“Today we appreciate the support provided by the Cerrejón company, as the close neighbours we are, to face the CORONA VIRUS pandemic, which is an emergency present worldwide. The support the company is now providing is very good because it is needed by the communities. The entire settlement is grateful for the work done here in the community”, noted Andrés Alfonso Molina Pushaina, member of the community of Barrancón.

During this emergency, Cerrejón has demonstrated its continued commitment to La Guajira with an investment of over seven billion pesos to distribute food baskets amongst ethnic communities in lockdown, deliver drinking water to the regional government, and donate medical supplies to La Guajira’s hospitals so they are prepared to deal with COVID-19.