The civic protest that the community of El Valle, district of Bahía Solano, had been carrying out in the Utría National Park for two weeks, ended this followingnoon, April 8, with the signing of a new agreement with the national government.
The main points signed are the following:
- Guarantees of non-judicialization of the leaders of the social protest in the Utría National Park.
- From April 9 to 11, a technical visit will be carried out to study the dredging and correction of the Valle River, define the type of dredger that is required and deliver the quote to the National Unit for Risk and Disaster Management, UNGRD, to advance in the contracting and sending equipment. Once the teams and the contracting process have been defined, in a period of twenty days following, the site will be reached for the start of operations, taking into account the logistics of travel.
- Regarding the correction and intervention of the Jella River, the UNGRD will carry out a technical visit to review and feasibility of the intervention.
- As a long-term solution to the erosion of the Valle River, the natural sense of the river will be recovered with reforestation and planting of mangroves. On April 11, 12, 13 and 14, UNGRD and Codechocó officials will define the most appropriate interventions.
- In three weeks, a technical table will be held with the vice-ministry of waters to define the aqueduct of El Valle and the El Brazo indigenous community.
- Invías promised to finish paving the 4.5 kilometers of road between Ciudad Mutis and El Valle.
- The Ministry of Housing will participate in the technical table to define the construction of houses that have been lost due to the change in the course of the Valle River.
- The delivery of lands (Barranca and Punta Roca) in El Valle, held by the company of Special Assets, SAE, will be expedited.
- The Ministry of Transportation will study the possibility of building a bridge over the Valle River, at the height of the SAE property.
- Houses of passage will be built in El Valle (for indigenous people) and in the Utría cove (for local fishermen).
- The health post in the El Valle township will be improved.
- Stairs and gabions will be built in the El Brazo indigenous community.
The agreement was signed, among others, by Lilia Clemencia Solano Ramírez, vice minister of the interior, by Gustavo Palacios Díaz, community leader from El Valle, by Carlos Mario Cardona Pérez, municipal representative of Bahía Solano, and by Teófilo Dogirama Tapí, from the guard indigenous people of Río Valle Boroboro.
