“With the stubbornness of those of us who remain, it can be achieved much easier”, with this phrase Jamies Valle Macías refers to the coffee production project that he will be part of in Ituango.
This, after the National Government formally acquired the property, already close to two years after the old ETCR San Lucía was transferredfrom Ituango, to the municipality of Mutatá.
He is part of the 47 ex-combatants and their families who advance their reincorporation process in Ituango and of those who, against threats to their safety, made the decision to remain in this municipality in northern Antioquia.
Valle indicated that right now, since the space is a reality, they hope to continue advancing in carrying out their project.
“We look at this site here in the village of El Río, in the Las Mercedes farm and we are very happy to have been able to get here and we hope to continue advancing to be able to make our project a reality, what we want,” said Valle.
It refers to the estate of the Las Mercedes hacienda, of which the National Government acquired the 50 hectares for the consolidation of the productive projects of the 47 ex-combatants and their families.
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We are very happy to have been able to get here and we hope to continue advancing to make our project a reality.
Andrés Felipe Stapper Segrera, director of the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN) explained that 30 hectares of this property will be used for planting and renewing coffee plantations, 10 more for planting bananas and the remaining 10 will be used for the construction of a housing project.
On this last point, he clarified that the houses will be for 12 ex-combatants and their families who were part of the former ETCR Santa Lucía who decided to stay and not be part of the concerted transfer process to the rural area of Mutatá advanced in July 2020.
This housing project will be built with resources from the Government of Antioquia.
Precisely, this was one of the issues that Governor Aníbal Gaviria exposed on February 9, during his agenda in Bogotá, before Carlos Ruiz Massieu, UN Representative and Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.
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“In the Ituango ETCR, now in the transfer of 12 families of ex-combatants to a farm in Ituango, they will not only have the houses but also the productive projects, with the support of the Mayor’s Office, the Government and the ARN, so we will continue working in conjunction with the United Nations from all fronts,” said Gaviria.
In his turn, Ruiz Massieu stated that one of the concerns of the UN Mission was also that after the transfer, efforts will be made to continue accompanying those who remained in that areaas well as the communities that live in Ituango.
Through @AgenciaTierras The national government acquired 50 hectares of the Las Mercedes estate, in #Ituangofor the consolidation of the productive projects of the 47 ex-combatants and their families who today carry out their reincorporation process in this municipality. pic.twitter.com/mIKfZg6TvR
– ARN Colombia (@ARNColombia) February 15, 2022
“The governor was telling me about the efforts being made to support the ex-combatants who stayed in Ituango, for us it is a concern and the work they are doing seems very important to us,” added Ruiz Massieu.
And it is that in June 2020, to the concern for their safety was added that of how to be able to execute the productive projects that they had been carrying out.
“For us it is a very important achievement, since when the people went to Mutatá, we were left without knowing what was going to happen. So, what we did was start to ask, to manage and ask the people who have more knowledge, how to do it, how are we going to do it”, the ex-combatant recalled at his turn.
A special coffee clustering project will be carried out at the Las Mercedes farm, which will also benefit 33 ex-combatants located in other municipalities and in the city of Medellin.
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They will produce, transform and market the grain produced on the farm under their own brand.
The ARN reported that this project will have its technical and financial support, in alliance with the National Federation of Coffee Growers, the Departmental Committee of Coffee Growers, the Government of Antioquia, the Antioquia Secretariat of Agriculture and the Seine.
In Anori they acquired two other properties
Overall, the National Government acquired 100 hectares of extension between the Ituango property and two more that are located in the municipality of Anoríso this impacts 160 people in the reincorporation process.
For now, it is known that the deeds for the La Manga and La Rinconada properties were signed in Bogotá in the first week of February, in addition to the Ituango property, where the old ETCR La Plancha is expected to be relocated.
“In the La Manga and La Rinconada properties, which together add up to 52.34 hectares, we are waiting for the start of the pre-feasibility studies to determine the feasibility of building a definitive housing project, which will allow us to move the old ETCR La Plancha , also located in Anorí, and to benefit about 100 people in the process of reincorporation and their families”, explained Stapper.
We are waiting for the start of the pre-feasibility studies to determine the feasibility of building a housing project
While the studies are being carried out, productive agricultural units will be developed on these two properties.
The reason for this is that being located just 15 minutes from the urban area of Anorí and 300 meters from the road that connects this municipality with Medellín, will improve the marketing of the products obtained.
Currently in Antioquia, 1,319 ex-combatants are advancing their reincorporation process.
Of these, 96 are in the municipality of Anorí and 72 of these live in the former ETCR La Plancha and 24 more in areas surrounding the municipality.
MELISSA ALVAREZ CORREA
Editor of THE TIME
kelcor@eltiempo.com
