On November 15 and 16, 2020, Hurricane Iota, the most aggressive to hit Colombian territory in more than a decade, devastated the islands of San Andrés and Providencia, leaving thousands of people homeless. Today, after more than a year, some are still homeless.
(Reconstruction in Providencia: how is it currently and what is coming).
The national government, at the time, promised, when this tragedy happened, that the “Reconstruction would take 100 days.” The project included not only the houses, but also the roads, schools and infrastructure in general, which was affected by 98% by the strong winds. However, to date, the works have not been completed.
According to data provided by Findeter, the Financial Institution for Territorial Development, an entity that has been in charge of the resources for this project, there are two works that have been 100% completed. The first is the construction of two water storage tanks for the aqueduct system, which allows the storage of 810 cubic meters of this liquid and to date, according to the entity, the distribution of the service has already begun through the island’s aqueduct network. .
The second completed project is dredging, which consisted of extracting more than 69,000 cubic meters of sediment.
However, in terms of housing more than 1,841 houses to be rebuilt, of which 1,365 are already habitable, that is, almost 500 remain to be finished, of them, 320 are under construction and 156 are about to start.
In the case of the El Embrujo airport, the project is currently 48% complete. The initial phase is now fully completed, where excavation works, layout and security strips, improvement of the platform terrain, construction of the platform and the support warehouse were carried out.
On the other hand, the works of the second phase have not started, where it is necessary to install filtering material, pour concrete in the retaining wall, install planar geodren and fill with material on the inner face of the wall and pour concrete. for terminal the conformation of flooring in the lower level of the air terminal.
About the sports scenarios, there are more than nine to transform. From the information recorded by Findeter to date, works have been completed on four of them: the Casa Baja multiple court, the Punta Rocosa field, the Junín school multiple field and the San Felipe field.
(They have only delivered 19% of the new houses in Providencia).
In the case of the Casa Baja Coliseum, It is barely 35% complete, the La Montaña field is 98% complete, as is the Santa Catalina field, and there is no record on the Pueblo Viejo baseball field and the La Montaña softball field.
On the island there are two schools to recover, but none is finished. In the case of the Boyacá educational institution there is a level of execution of 93% and the Bombona school of 85%.
In line with the above, the Minister of Housing, Susana Correa assured Portfolio that “In the educational sector, 37 temporary classrooms are currently installed that allowed the normalization of the school day” and in figures there are schools that barely have progress of 13%.
On cultural scenes, the theater studios are the ones that have made the most progress with 95%, the house of culture 65% and there are no records of the house of willy be and the museum.
As for the Fontur tourist premises, there are 152 which the national government is working on, of which 82 have been completed, 36 are in progress and 34 are yet to start.
WHY HAVE THE WORKS NOT BEEN FINISHED?
Among other reasons, Findeter indicated to Portfolio that the quarantine of November 2021 had to do with this process.
“We have faced complex situations such as covid outbreaks, 100 people in quarantine in 2021, which affect the normal pace of construction.”
Likewise, it also highlights that there have been thefts of materials on the work fronts.
On logistics issues, The entity also considers that due to the shortage of materials the works have been affected.
“The transportation of materials to the island and the impact this has on schedules has forced us to look for many alternatives. The shortage in the world of materials such as steel and wood has required a greater effort on the part of the contractors”, indicated the state entity.
Added to this, not having a port but rather a dock with limited capacity, has made the process of arrival of materials slower. “For this reason, ships must wait at anchor for between 5 and 8 days, sometimes more, while they are assigned a turn to unload,” said Findeter, who also pointed out that together with the low operating capacity, download times have been extended.
Regarding labor, they highlight the “limitations in the use of natural resources that restrict, among other things, the capacity to house a large number of workers.”
According to official figures, 27,000 tons of building material have entered the island in more than a year, in which 290 containers have been used on 17 ships and 140 trips. In tons of rubble, 2,183 have been removed.
Professor Ana Isabel Márquez of the National University assured “The archipelago is overloaded at the moment, and with its ecological base still badly affected by Hurricane Iota. Unfortunately, many things have not been taken into account or until now are being reviewed, because the Government has realized that it does not know the local dynamics”.
DISASTER SHELTERS
In an interview with the Minister of Housing, Susana Correa, who was in charge of this project before taking office, indicated that as a preventive measure against future natural phenomena, certain activities were carried out on the island.
“Four sustainable shelters were adapted on the island: Santa Isabel Youth Center- Downtown, New Life Baptist Church- Southwest, Rocky Point House of Music- Punta Rocosa and Divine Mercy Catholic Church- Casa Baja”.
PAULA GALEANO BALAGUERA
