Cerrejón has already delivered 16,000 of food baskets to communities in the department of La Guajira

Cerrejón has already delivered 16,000 food baskets to communities in La Guajira. This amount includes the over 11,000 boxes delivered to more than 350 ethnic communities in the municipalities of Uribia, Maicao, Albania, Manaure, Barrancas, and Hatonuevo as aid required due to the COVID-19 emergency. Nearly 5,000 food baskets were delivered to the mayors’ offices of Uribia, Maicao, Barrancas, Hatonuevo, and Albania and to the offices of the regional government of La Guajira. In the case of Barrancas, this aid will also benefit the resettled communities located there.

“In the name of my traditional authority and of my community Nortechon, we are grateful for this blessing. This is a grain of sand that helps our population. We have been receiving other food baskets and now, with these, we can endure this situation, maintain our quality of life, and bear the lockdown everyone has at home. Truly, thank you very much for this effort” , stated Yoleida Montiel Uriana, leader of the community of Nortechon.

The delivery of these foodstuffs, which are part of a donation of 25,000 food baskets reaching 45,000 people, is only provided to families that are abiding by the preventive isolation order. The company has 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 over 70, children, or anyone with any type of illness. Furthermore, together with the food baskets, Cerrejón is providing recommendations on health and hygiene in Wayuunaiki to raise awareness on how to handle this disease.

“At Cerrejón, we have been performing a judicious task by delivering this foodstuff aid, which we hope helps the ethnic communities in staying at home during this emergency. Our teams are taking all possible measures to deliver these items safely and prevent the spread of this disease. We have already begun the second delivery of food baskets to continue supporting these families at this difficult time,”, reported Juan Carlos García Otero, Cerrejón’s manager of Social Affairs.

During this emergency, Cerrejón has demonstrated its continued commitment to La Guajira with an investment of six billion pesos to distribute 25,000 items of foodstuffs amongst ethnic communities in lockdown, deliver up to 240,000 litres of drinking water a day to the regional government, and donate medical supplies to La Guajira’s hospitals so they are prepared to face COVID-19.