Colombia: Blockades on Roads Generate Rejection From Productive Sectors

Colombian Bananas, Photo: @WRadioColombia

September 4, 2024 Hour: 2:08 pm

For its part, the Association of Colombian Banana Growers, Augura, denounced today that 500,000 boxes of this fruit are at risk of being lost, while 15,000 workers are prevented from reaching their jobs and sales are in danger.

On Wednesday, official soures stated that the blockades generated on important roads in Colombia by the protests of transporters after the increase in the price of diesel fuel interrupt the normal life of the citizens and generate the rejection of several productive sectors.

The state company Ecopetrol, for example, warned today that due to this cause, in addition to the attacks on the Caño Limón Coveñas and Bicentenario pipelines, and the blockade of the Gibraltar field by the Uwa community, its operations are beginning to be affected by the impossibility of evacuating hydrocarbons.

‘The unavailability of the pipelines, added to the difficulty in mobilising tanker trucks with hydrocarbons and Liquefied Petroleum Gas, may impact in the coming days the production of crude oil and gas, the fulfilment of the diets of the refineries of Barrancabermeja and Cartagena, and the supply of fuels in different parts of the country,’ it said.

La Asociación de Bananeros de Colombia señaló que los bloqueos en las vías ponen en riesgo el sustento de miles de familias que hacen parte del gremio. Manifestaron su preocupación por la forma en que se interrumpe el transporte de la cadena agroindustrial desde las regiones. pic.twitter.com/CJN9UauZkJ
— RCN Radio Medellín (@RCNMedellin944) September 4, 2024

The Colombian Banana Growers Association said that roadblocks put the livelihood of thousands of families who are part of the group at risk. They expressed their concern about the way in which transport in the agro-industrial chain from the regions is interrupted.

According to information from the Mayor’s Office, in Bogotá alone, there are more than a dozen important roads that remain blocked by the transporters, while a similar situation is reported in several departments of the country.

According to the capital’s education secretary, Isabel Segovia, more than one million students have been forced to interrupt their attendance in the classroom.

The day before, the Colombian Federation of Road Cargo Transporters (Colfecar) signed a communiqué from the Trade Council in which it rejects the blockades in different areas as a form of protest.

The president of the National Association of Colombian Businessmen (Andi), Bruce Master, also declared that the road interruptions are unacceptable and that they want to subject society as a whole to mobility problems.

The Colombian government installed a Unified Command Post two days ago to monitor the situation of the protests on the roads and maintains its call for dialogue with the sector with which it has not yet reached a definitive agreement.