Colombia’s roads authority Invias urges the government to allocate COP5 billion ($2.6 million) to fix damage caused to the country’s road network by the prolonged rainy season, reports news source Terra.
The director of Invias Carlos Rosado explained that “the problem occurs when the damages are large as in the department of Cesar and Honda where several bridges collapsed. But even more, what worries us, is that the country’s roads are damaged and we have to seek new resources to provide definite solutions in the immediate future.”
Rosado added that Colombia is claiming to be an investment destination, so it is important to find resources to rebuild the infrastructure in order to match expectations.
At the moment, 180 highways are damaged, of which 10 are permanently closed. The departments most affected are Caldas, Risaralda, Atlantico, Santander, and Norte de Santander.
The department of Caldas reports that 80% of its roads affected by heavy rains with three municipalities and two villages inaccessible, the governor of the department said.
This year’s prolonged winter season has affected over 1.2 million Colombians, and 28 out of Colombia’s 32 departments have experienced substantial damage.