Cali’s transport secretary said Wednesday he will leave Colombia for “a few days” after receiving death threats from opponents of his plans for an integrated transport system.
Secretary Alberto Hadad told W Radio he has repeatedly receives threats against his life, usually by telephone, to the extent that he feels he must leave the country for his own safety and thus must leave his responsibilities as transport secretary to another, however he has not yet made a decision as to who.
Hadad also said the decision to leave Cali came from recommendations of the mayor of Cali, Rodrigo Guerrero, who said the time away would be “prudent”.
Prior to leaving Cali the secretary said “I will not expose myself to the council” and “give people a little time to calm down.”
The deputy commander of the Cali police, Colonel Jorge Ivan Toro Carmona, was reported saying that “the police do not know of any direct threats against the secretary of Cali Transit.”
The secretary’s decision came after news Hadad wanted to introduce an integrated transport scheme, one which he insists will be good for the city and still intends to put in place.