Jeremy Corbyn MP and others have tabled an Early Day Motion calling on the UK Government to support the demands of communities affected by the Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia, jointly owned by London-listed mining companies Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Xstrata.
If you live in the UK, please contact your MP and ask him or her to sign this EDM.
If you do not know how to contact your MP, go to http://www.writetothem.com/.
For the text and signatories, see http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2396.
CERREJÓN COAL COMPANY MINE, COLOMBIA
That this House expresses concern about the devastating social and environmental impacts of the Cerrejn Coal company’s huge opencast coal mine in Colombia, owned in equal parts by London-listed multinationals Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Xstrata; notes with concern that communities forcibly dispersed before these companies bought the mine have yet to receive justice in the form of adequate compensation or community resettlement; further notes with concern that an agreement to reconstruct the evicted community of Tabaco remains unfulfilled and that communities currently facing involuntary resettlement accuse Cerrejn Coal of inefficiency and injustice in its dealings with them; is concerned that the proposed deviation of the River Rancheria, the main river in La Guajira, for mine expansion, will threaten water security for the region; further notes that some of these communities have formed a federation to seek justice from the company; further notes that the President of this federation has sought the support of British parliamentarians and that unionised mineworkers at Cerrejn fully support this federation; and urges the Government to require the London-listed companies involved to ensure that the federation’s demands are accepted in full by Cerrejn Coal.