Santos signs decree to boost flood victim aid

President Juan Manuel Santos signed a decree intended to speed up the funding of reconstruction projects after the worst rainy season in the country’s history.

The presidential website announced that The National Housing Fund (Fonvivienda) will receive an initial boost of $112.2 Million to use to help rebuild houses destroyed by the harsh rainy season caused by the weather phenomenon La Niña.

The decree signed by the head of state will reportedly give more power to the fund and the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development, so the two entities can expedite the rebuilding process.

“With this judicial tool, operational and financial, the director of the Fonvivienda will be able to construct separate assets to attend more quickly and efficiently the population affected by the crude winter that  faces the country,” said Beatriz Uribe Botero, the Minister of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development.

Rain across the country has been the cause of the flooding of 2.5 million acres of farmland, the death of almost 100 people and the displacement of over 2.2 million including 600,000 children.

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