Five years later, the victims of Mocoa are still waiting for reparation

After five years of the tragedy in Mocoa (Putumayo), several families are still waiting for the construction of their new homes and some students expect the same from their school. This as a promise of the Colombian State, after on the night of March 31, 2017 and for 24 hours, the citizens of Mocoa were victims of a natural tragedy that left 333 dead and thousands more affected, after the La Taruca and La Tarauquita streams, as well as the Moca, Mulato and Sangoyaco rivers, overflowed and plus heavy rains, will almost completely take the city ahead.

Five years after the tragedy, Manuel Delgado, Mocoa's social leader spoke to La W Radio, about the reparation of the victims by national institutions, “we haven't seen the homes we so long for, only 300 of the 1,200 houses have been handed over to affected families. Neither in the past nor in the current presidency have there been substantial progress in providing a roof to those affected,” he said on the radio station.

In the “Country Without Memory” program, the community leader said: “There is no progress, a year ago we continued with the homes that were supposed to be given to us in December 2020. There were 390 as of December 2021 and last they started with 68 homes, we were all waiting for it.”

You may be interested: After five years of the tragedy, the Attorney General's Office warned of non-compliance in the delivery of works in Mocoa

Regarding financial aid, Delgado said that the national government gives the victims a sum of 250,000 pesos every three months, “it's up to people to go out looking for sustenance to be able to rent a house worth 400,000 pesos, which is at least one finds around here in the area. The vast majority of people affected live in the worst conditions,” he said.

But he also left an alert: “Many of the people who have been given some housing did not suffer a leak during the tragedy. There are houses that are closed, others that rent and many are unoccupied. We ask that the authorities investigate these cases and hand over homes to people who really need them,” he said.

It may interest you: JEP creates technical table for the reparation of victims in Magdalena Caldense

For its part, the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation indicated that “to date, the inhabitants of this city still demand the construction of the houses promised by the National Government in 2017. By July 2021, the promised 909 homes had to be built, but according to the contractor, at a work desk with the Attorney General's Office, they could only deliver 500 ″.

But of the total number of houses delivered, the inhabitants of the 17 affected neighborhoods claim that at least 100 houses of those built are in uninhabitable condition. “This situation persists despite the request for the implementation of a strategy to reduce arrears, which was agreed at the working table on October 15, 2021,” said the Attorney General's Office.

Another promise of the Colombian State to the population of Mocoa was the construction of a megacolege. On this process, the Public Prosecutor's Office found an advance of 71%, which includes the completion of Stage I corresponding to the construction of classrooms for 960 students. According to the demand of the Attorney General's Office, “this school must be 100% built by July of this year.”

KEEP READING: