“In my development plan we capture the defense of the territory that includes our water”

The mayor of California Santander, Genny Gamboa Guerrero spoke with SEMANA about the request of the Foundation for the Great Social Pact, to investigate it by the Attorney General’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office due to an alleged sabotage by the president to block the process of delimitation of the Páramo of Santurbán in this municipality.

“The situation in California It is quite complex since there is an interest from a multinational such as Minesa that is processing an environmental license before the National Environmental Licensing Authority. (Anla),” said Gamboa Guerrero.

The mayor also stated thatSocial support from the Californian community for the Minesa project is very low, approximately 20% of the population. All this due to the almost 30 years of presence of these multinationals in this territory that have caused a social fracture”.

Fabio Maldonado, representative of the Foundation for the Great Social Pact of California, told SEMANA about the alleged acts of boycott of the official. “The mayor is obliged to facilitate, coordinate and support the process of delimitation of the moor. However, despite the fact that we are in the agreement stage, the mayor together with a team of collaborators, including her husband and some officials from the mayor’s office and two councilors, have boycotted the process, that is, they are not complying with the order of a judge de la República”, which is the T361 of 2017 for the new delimitation of the Santurbán páramo.

On this issue, the local president stressed that “the foundation was an ally of Minesa in the last study of the environmental pact that was archived”, in addition, Genny Gamboa Guerrero indicated that “some of them (of the foundation) do not support this initiative. This Mr. Fabio Maldonado from the beginning of my mandate when I put my position of not being in agreement with the big mining projecthas been making a series of unfounded remarks from the point of view that he wants to show the situation.”

Gamboa reiterated that she has a very different vision than that of the representative of the Foundation for the Great Social Pact of California. “I have been managing my development plan all for California in which we express the defense of the territory that includes our water, Our traditions. This development plan is focused on California and its inhabitants being condemned to abandonment.”

The mayor also highlighted: “I have acted within the legal and constitutional framework in all its actions, including the Santurbán páramo delimitation plan, I know what my scope is, what my roles are, and the most important is to guarantee the participation of all communities in this important process such as delimitation”.

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