Las Bambas: businessmen from Challhuahuacho arrive in Lima to ask to resolve the conflict

The conflict between the mining company Las Bambas MMG and the communities of the province of Chumvibilcas (Cusco) face a moment of great tension after the mining company will announce the stoppage of its activities from the fortnight of December.

In this context, Sandra Guzmán, the spokesperson for entrepreneurs, businessmen and local associations of the Challhuahuacho province (Apurimac), informed this medium that will seek to meet with the authorities today at 9:00 am at the headquarters of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM) to ask for an immediate resolution of the conflict in Las Bambas since the announcement of the paralysis of mining activities for the fortnight of this month.

“We want to ask the President of the Republic and all the ministers to immediately resolve otherwise, in the same way that the regional government requested compensation, we as a private sector will request compensation for damages,” said Guzmán.

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Yesterday, the businessmen; who are mostly from tourism, restaurant and hotel sector; from the district of Challhuahuacho, province of Cotabambas in the department of Apurimac published a statement in which they expressed their concern about the announcement of the stoppages of the mining activity of Las Bambas, since they point out that it harms the commercial and economic activities of merchants and entrepreneurs of this district.

Unsuccessful dialogue with the government

The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) tried, last Tuesday, to mediate a unsuccessful agreement with the communities from the province of Chumbivilcas to lift the blockade of the Las Bambas mining corridor in that sector.

The minutes of the meeting record that the Chumbivilcas communities are requesting that 5% of the trucks used by Las Bambas are assigned to them to transport copper and 50 more trucks. In addition, they requested maintenance services on their communal lands in terms of cisterns for irrigation, maintenance of micro-pavement and trails. Las Bambas has not agreed with the demand so the blockade continues.

Likewise, the MINEM rejected the attitude of the mining company Las Bambas by refusing to improve the proposal to serve the communities as it had been proposed in the previous coordination meetings. For their part, the communities reaffirmed their decision to demonstrate peacefully and guarantee the transit of all private vehicles and asked to speak with the general manager of the company.

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Workers Union

In the same way, the Unique Union of Workers of the Mining Company Las Bambas MMG published another statement in which it also expresses its concern about the announcement of the stoppages of the mining activity in Las Bambas, since they indicate that it puts more than 9,000 workers and their families at risk.

“Our company made known that, due to the continuous blockade, it will be forced to paralyze its production in mid-December, a fact that puts our job and remuneration stability at serious risk,” the statement said.

In this statement they assured that the mining company MMG would be complying with the commitments signed with the communities. However, the Government would not be intervening adequately to solve the conflict, for which the same trade union organization sought to build bridges of dialogue between the Presidency of the Council of the Minister, Congress and the communities, but to date they have not been catered.

In this case, the A statement called for the suspension of the measures of force, as these acts indirectly caused the loss of some of his co-workers. In addition, it asks the mining company Las Bambas MMG to achieve a prompt solution to the conflict and the intervention of the Government to achieve dialogue.