Valledupar, October 17, 2024
Drummond Ltd. informs that the direct negotiation stage of the post-consultation and prior consultation process ordered by the Constitutional Court in ruling T-375 of 2023, carried out with the representatives of the Yukpa community, ended on September 25 in Valledupar. Despite the mutual willingness and effort throughout the process, no agreement was reached between the parties.
The negotiation process was permanently accompanied by the National Directorate and Authority for Prior Consultation (DANCP) of the Ministry of the Interior, the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA), the Attorney General’s Office, the Ombudsman’s Office and other guarantor institutions, in addition to qualified external advisors from both parties. The sessions were conducted in a dialogue format in which one of the priorities was an absolute respect for the fundamental rights of all those involved.
During the meetings, the company presented 12 comprehensive plans for the progress and well-being of the Yukpa community, prioritizing nutritional care, the development of the child population, and the rescue of the cultural richness of the Yukpa community.
Unfortunately, these proposals did not meet the expectations of the community’s negotiating representatives, despite the efforts of both the company and the government to make them viable.
At the closing, the company heard the statements from the voices of each of the Yukpa governors, saddened for not having reached an agreement, but with a calm tone, acknowledging that the relationship with the company is good and that the measures to protect the Yukpa people, in any case, will be adopted in court.
Therefore, we are surprised and saddened by the recent communiqu茅 from the Yukpa community. The statements do not reflect the good faith and mutual recognition that characterized our dialogues, in which trust was built through respect.
In spite of the above, and as Drummond Ltd. stated to each of the governors’ councils in separate communications on September 26, the company stands by the words of the governors, who expressed their sadness at not having reached an agreement, but also their confidence in the relationship with Drummond Ltd.
In addition, we have activated our social responsibility programs to support the Yukpa community, even in the absence of a final agreement, reaffirming our commitment to the protection of the fundamental rights of the Yukpa people.
As part our sustainability policy, and in order to promote the socioeconomic development of the communities of Cesar, the company reiterates its permanent willingness to dialogue and jointly work with the Yukpa people.
Finally, we invite the Yukpa people to use words it become a tool of union and not of division, so that the words used bring harmony, not rupture and imbalance, and to work in a consensus that generates wellbeing in the entire community, especially for the children.