The Colombian government has declared a state of national disaster for a period of one year following the heavy flooding in Chocó and La Guajira in order to have more resources for reconstruction, the international press reported today.
The Europa Press news agency reported that Colombian President Gustavo Petro has decreed that urban planning permits will not be required for the reconstruction of homes affected by the rains and has stipulated that the Ministry of Finance must ensure that national risk management funds have sufficient resources to deal with the crisis.
Petro indicated that over the next twelve months, the National Risk Management Unit (UNGRD) will be responsible for preparing the plan for the reconstruction of all affected areas.
The Colombian President assured that "long-term solutions will be sought", after having travelled to the state of Chocó, lamenting that the natural disaster had affected more than 30 thousand families.
"What interests me is not just providing first aid. Generally, the response to disasters in Colombia has been just that and only long-term structural solutions can prevent the tragedy from happening again", said Petro, before stating that the population "goes from disaster to disaster".
That is why he announced that the 1.7 billion Colombian pesos (around 358 thousand euros) announced by the director of the UNGRD will prioritize the evacuation of families in high-risk areas.
"We will resolve this by relocating high-risk areas for the population. Relocating a village, a neighborhood, a population center that is at high risk is essential, because in general what the population is asking for, understandably, is that they want to continue living there," he said, according to the Colombian media.
"We have to build a wall, we have to build expensive works, engineering works with the experience we have, because nature is increasingly violent against life. Building on water, building against water is useless, because the water will reclaim its space with its own strength," Petro assessed.
The country was hit for 48 hours last weekend by heavy rains that caused flooding in 27 of the country's 32 states.
No comments:
Post a Comment