Colombian Government Approves Support to Rural and Isolated Areas Impacted by Poverty and Violence

Map of Colombian road network showcases the lack of accessibility to a wide array of its territory. The government hopes to connect difficult-to-reach areas both by the improvement of existing roads and by the construction of new ones. SOURCE: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mapa_de_Colombia_(red_vial).svg

Ivan Duque’s government approved the spending of an additional $22,000 million Colombian pesos (COP), around $6 million USD, to support of the Territorial Development Plans (PDET). These plans are aimed at closing the gap between the 170 municipalities most affected by violence and poverty and the rest of the country. 

This initiative comes as a result of the Peace Accords signed by the Colombian government in Havana, Cuba in 2016 to end a 52-year-long war with militant guerrilla groups. The Duque government seeks to transform the lives of the people in these isolated areas, making them less vulnerable to violence and the illicit drug industry. These territories are among the most impacted by the armed conflict, poverty, drug usage, and weak government institutions. 

Emilio Archila, the high counsellor for Stabilization and Consolidation and the man responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Peace Treaty, said, “The underdeveloped circumstances of these municipalities, where there are no roads, no telecommunications, no education, no healthcare, no good public administration, leaves them isolated from the rest of the country; and when territories are isolated from the rest of the country, they are an easy target for the groups that hope for there to be violence in those areas.” He stresses the importance of the six pillars of the PDET–road and accessibility development, access to energy, proper sewer systems, aqueducts, and health and education infrastructures– for  long-lasting peace and prosperity. 

On October 2, 2019, the Body of Collegiate Administration for Peace (OCAD), which is responsible for budgeting government spending for the implementation of the Peace Process, approved the 22,000 million Colombian pesos as an investment into five of the 170 municipalities that are part of the PDET. Seventeen thousand million COP of the aforementioned 22,000 million will be devoted to the improvement of the tertiary roads which will benefit around 33,000 citizens. 

The remaining 5,000+ million COP will be spent on the construction of a vehicular bridge connecting an existing paved road with the municipality of Chámeza, Casanare, as well as the improvement of the urban roads in two more municipalities.

This comes after the OCAD’s approval of 400,000 million COP to be allocated in a similar fashion and provided to other municipalities in August.  Around 500,000 million COP is currently in use, while another 600,000 million has been approved but has yet to be implemented. 

As Emilio Archila also explains, the PDET (under the OCAD) is funded in large majority by a variety of taxes imposed on Colombians. Archila hopes that the projects may be implemented under an 85-15 proportion: 85 percent of the money from the Colombian government, and the remaining 15 percent from international investment and cooperation. Since these projects are meant to be carried out over the course of the next 15 years, Archila anticipates that the Colombian population will be briefed on the estimated total for the proper establishment of the initiative sometime around December.