Roadblocks cut off Caribbean coast and prevent fruit from reaching ports
The Magdalena and La Guajira Banana Growers Association (Asbama) has warned that roadblocks in the municipality of Zona Bananera, one of Colombia’s biggest banana producing regions, have paralysed exports, generating substantial losses and jeopardising thousands of jobs in the area.
The Caribbean Coast remains cut off from the rest of the country via the Troncal de Oriente (Eastern Trunk Road) due to the roadblocks by local farmers, coffee growers, and community leaders from five villages in the upper Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, part of the municipality of Ciénaga.
They are protesting again years of inaction by the local and national authorities on infrastructure projects and improvements to public services.
Wednesday marked the third day of the blockade, which is preventing the entry and exit of vehicles transporting containers of bananas for export, which, according to Asbama, impacts the quality and shelf-life of the fruit and causes significant economic losses.
The situation is also disrupting production, as many workers have been unable to access their workplaces.
Asbama warned that beyond the immediate loss of the fruit that cannot be exported, the blockades are pushing up production costs and negatively impacting the competitiveness of Colombian bananas compared to other producing countries.
Asbama has called on the government, as well as to departmental and municipal authorities, to restore public order, free movement, and security in the region.
