Mr. President of the Republic, DR ALEJANDRO TOLEDO MANRIQUE, Ministers, regional authorities, representatives of the Company PLUSPETROL, representatives of institutions present, chiefs and members of native communities.
This is a transcendent event for our nation, the launch of the production of the Camisea gas that we celebrate today. I am sure that it will be remembered throughout history because it signifies an undisputable advance for the development of our country. We are conscious that the exploitation of this resource has generated and will generate employment and will lower the cost of energy for Peruvians. It is for this reason that the Machiguenga people have watched the project with great hope and expectation.
This explains the commitment with which COMARU, as the representative organization of the majority of the communities of the Urubamba watershed, has followed the development of the project, having obtained the social peace and the physical and legal demarcation of our territories. Likewise, the conservation of our rich biodiversity is a responsibility being assumed by COMARU and our ally CEDIA which, thanks to the permanent work of many years with the State and the investment of resources from the international community, has permitted the consolidation of this entire part of the Urubamba watershed and put it in the hands of a management entity comprised of all of the actors in the watershed, collectively known as the MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LOWER URUBAMBA.
Given that our natural resources guarantee our future as a people; we are and we will continue to be watchful in making sure that the social, cultural, and environmental standards are met for whatever project is developed in this watershed. To that end, we have always promoted Independent Monitoring, led by Local Civil Society and we have carried it out as much as possible. For a large number of the conditions placed on the State and the Companies by the IDB, our objective and critical vision of this project has diverged from official views; and, the studies commissioned to independent entities and/or professionals have shown our concerns to be warranted. Ultimately, history does not only count deeds, it also judges, and that is why we have wanted to contribute so that the exploitation of a non-renewable resource on the one hand, does not signify the destruction of others and the degradation of the scenic and environmental values of our territories or of our culture and social conditions.
Throughout the process, this has been our contribution and it will continue to be.
For us, the Camisea project will be a milestone to which we will refer in the future to signal how our valley was before Camisea and how it is after Camisea. You can be sure that although a great quantity of economic resources has been invested to demonstrate to us that negative impacts have not occurred, our people have suffered these impacts in their rivers, forests, wildlife, and land, with repercussions for their health, nutrition, and heritage.
We are sure that CAMISEA is only the beginning and that in many years we will no longer have tranquility in our territories, because after this come other blocks, and possibly other companies. In the face of this, all that we can do is claim, with our rights in hand, that based on this experience we will continue to demand respect for our rights and the fulfillment of the standards that guarantee a dignified future for our people.
Our wish is that this experience will improve the process of consultation and negotiation; standardize methodologies of valorizing environmental damages; establish with clarity and transparency agreements for indemnification and compensation. We cannot accept that we, as natives, be taken advantage of. I say this because this is the feeling of all of the communities that have entered into agreements with the companies; their feeling is that, “THEY HAVE NOT BEEN CARRIED OUT IN GOOD FAITH” and they are unsatisfied with the process, which they consider unfinished business.
This is not good for a project because a project of this magnitude should be emblematic, a model of how to treat the natural environment and the rights of the peoples. COMARU will convoke the best of Civil Society and other allies to support initiatives that help improve all of the processes that we have observed in the development of this project.
I should clarify that the only thing that motivates us is the defense of our future; for that we need the State to be at our side supporting our initiatives and defending our interests. Until now, we have felt this support to be distant and sometimes we have not felt it at all.
We recognize the culmination of this phase of the Camisea project and it is our wish, wherever the gas or the energy of Camisea reaches, that it be known that there is an indigenous people that has contributed, that has fought against the negative impacts of the project in order to meet the objective of improving the quality of life of the rest of the nation.
Thank you.
(Translated by Peter Kostishack and Cathy Ross)
