The director of Colombia’s disaster agency Civil Defense says that surveys listing the number of flood victims are inconsistent and occasionally wrong, El Espectador reported Tuesday.
Major General Jairo Duban Pineda notes that while in some cases entire families genuinely affected by the flood were not included in the lists of those affected, in other cases local mayors presented themselves as victims.
“There are places where the whole family appears in [the] lists as victims,” he said, indicating that many members of the same family have often all registered as a victim, whereas “there are victims who have nothing.”
The government continues to provide relief to those affected by the rainy season, particularly in the department of Magdalena, which has suffered the widespread flooding of the Magdalena River.
El Informador states that among the main problems for those administering the aid is that many people have registered several times, as well as the issue over municipal officials posing as victims.
This news comes after previous government concerns over the distribution of flood relief funds. The Comptroller General’s Office has since been informed of the irregularities.