Attorney General's Office warns of alleged breaches in the PAE of an educational institution in Cartagena

The Attorney General's Office warned on Tuesday about the possible non-compliance with the School Food Program (PAE) of the Nuestra Señora del Carmen Educational Institution in Cartagena, which is why it requested that the Mayor's Office of the capital of Bolívar and the Ministry of Education be informed of the reasons.

The Public Prosecutor's Office initiated a preventive action after a complaint was heard by the rector of the district school Miguel Pérez Márquez, in which it included the demand of several parents, who stated that during 2022 the food distributed to the beneficiaries of this program, which aims to ensure a balanced nutritional contribution to students of official institutions, has not complied with the provisions of the contract.

“The mayor's office and the Ministry of Education were asked to explain why the amount of food has been reduced, since, as reported by the media, the Cartagena district administration has repeatedly failed to comply with the specifications defined as to the amount of each ration provided for students in this headquarters”, said the supervisory body.

Similarly, it asked to confirm whether a complaint has been lodged against the PAE operator with the Colombian Mercantile Stock Exchange, which is the entity that provides this service, and if it is done, send a copy of the documents supporting this action, which would give an account of the repeated complaints made by the parents of family for the failure to comply with this program, which has shown serious problems throughout the country.

Finally, the Cartagena Provincial Provincial Prosecutor's Office pointed out that this measure does not imply “co-administration or interference in the legal, technical or financial decisions” established by state entities or individuals exercising public functions.

For its part, the local newspaper El Universal learned that in mid-March several schools in Cartagena decided not to receive the food distributed by the PAE, arguing that it was incomplete and made up of “a banana and a bread”, a case that has been replicated in several departments of the country in which the program has shown major deficiencies which fall on the beneficiary students

“The problem of the PAE is not only in Cartagena but at the national level. The reason is because the mission of providing nutritional value to students so that they can grow according to age is not being fulfilled. Let this growth also be personal and academic,” the rector of the Nuestra Señora del Carmen Educational Institution in Cartagena told the local media.

These complaints come days after a group of students in Pasto report that they received bags of PAE milk that had larvae

Reports continue throughout the country about the food of questionable quality that some providers of the School Food Program (PAE) would be delivering to children in Colombia. On this occasion, the call comes from an official school in Pasto, capital of the department of Nariño, which received a batch of milk bags with larvae.

This is the Municipal Educational Institution Ciudad de Pasto, which in that place is also known as CCP. According to the student community, during this year they have received decompensated diets — only drinks and cookies, which are carbohydrates — and products with past expiration dates.

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