Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Sunday announced his government will use $531 million from the 2011 national budget to help the victims of this year’s rainy season and repair damaged public goods.
Santos made the announcement after a marathon session with his ministers.
According to Santos, the reserved money will only cover 10% of the damage caused by the floods and heavy rains that have affected over 1.8 million Colombians so far.
“Fortunately we can still not talk about food shortages. There is food in all parts of the country,” Santos said, adding that authorities are doing all the can to make sure children are able to finish their school years and that epidemics are under control.
Santos did not specify where the government planned to get the $531 million from, but said that more specific proposals will be made public this week.