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22. Acquisition of Tabaco village in Colombia provides lessons for future resettlement projects
BHP Billiton and its joint venture partners, Anglo American and Glencore, became equal owners of the Cerrejon Zona Norte (CZN) coal mine in Colombia in February 2002, when they acquired International Colombia Resources Corporation (Intercor) from ExxonMobil, which held the mine's remaining 50 per cent ownership and operational interests. A new company, Cerrejon Coal Company, was formed, combining CZN and Carbones del Cerrejon. Situated within the mining lease is the village of Tabaco.
In 1997, prior to the involvement of BHP Billiton, the acquisition of Tabaco commenced to enable future expansion of the mine's operations.
The acquisition has proceeded in accordance with Colombian law. As part of the legal process, a survey was conducted to determine whether the people of the village wanted to sell their possession rights or be relocated. The survey established that there were 213 possession rights in Tabaco, of which 8 were municipal public properties, 151 were unoccupied lands or houses and 54 were occupied dwellings.
In the survey, 95 per cent of the possessors said they did not want resettlement and wanted to negotiate directly. Subsequently, 192 out of 213 possession rights were settled; and acquisition of the 8 public properties was negotiated with the municipality of Hatonuevo. In August 2001, the remaining 13 possession rights were acquired through an expropriation process ordered by national judges in accordance with the Mining Law.
Court action was initiated on behalf of those people who had not agreed to sell their possession rights; and, in May 2002, the Colombian Supreme Court ordered that the municipality of Hatonuevo provide primary education and housing infrastructure support for children of this group. While schooling is provided free to students, there are associated expenses for such items as educational materials.
Some months earlier, Cerrejon had approached the municipality and offered to assist with the education of these children. An assistance program was implemented; and, during 2002, Cerrejon helped meet the schooling expenses of 21 children of former Tabaco residents. Eight of the children were attending school in Hatonuevo and nine in Patilla. The other four children had moved with their families to Barranquilla, and they were granted one-year scholarships.
Following a review at the end of 2002, it was decided the funding should be provided directly to the schools attended by the children. Through the Fundación Nuestra Señora del Pilar, assistance has been given to the school in Hatonuevo for a cafeteria and to the school in Patilla for school furniture and materials. As the four children living in Barranquilla could not continue their studies without individual support, their scholarships have been extended for another year.
In May 2003, Cerrejon offered the municipality of Hatonuevo some land for community use; and it has been indicated by the municipality that this may also benefit the affected people from Tabaco.
The Cerrejon management team has reviewed the processes that it follows when the relocation of a community becomes necessary, so as to ensure that they are consistent with international best practice and are focused on the maintenance of sustainable livelihoods. To this end, Cerrejon will adopt relevant World Bank guidelines for any future resettlements.
The Company has also adopted the US-UK Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights to guide interactions between the Company's security providers and local communities. Cerrejon's approach is consistent with BHP Billiton's group-wide commitments.
