Colombia’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday approved an emergency decree issued by the government in December to attend the crisis caused by last year’s extended rainy season, El Tiempo reports.
Decree 4580 declared a state of economic emergency and social and ecological disaster, setting the foundation for the distribution of aid and resources to the victims of last year’s flooding.
The court stated the decree was constitutional and accepted the arguments by the Santos administration that stated the necessity of the emergency measures in order to attend to the approximately 2.2 million victims of the excessive rains, floods and landslides.
President Santos said through his twitter account, “I celebrate the decision of the Court concerning the winter emergency. But the warning [of flooding] continues and we cannot let our guard down.”
Some complementary measures issued by the government after its initial decree are still being studied by the court.
In February, Colombia’s Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez requested the Court to make two permanent amendments to the constitution regarding two decrees that concern the distribution of funds. A decision has yet to be given on the matter.