Ombudsman's Office warns violations of economic, social and environmental rights in Magdalena

This Friday, April 15, the Ombudsman's Office alerted the violation of the social, economic and environmental rights of citizens in the department of Magdalena.

This was warned by the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, during a meeting with representatives of the productive sector at the Santa Marta Chamber of Commerce, in which he invited to promote economic recovery and growth in the region.

“In the absence of the continuation of the policies to stimulate the Formal Employment Support Program (PAEF) and in the face of the expectation of the increase in credit prices in the short and medium term, higher growth rates may be limited. It is imperative to continue to maintain the path of improvement in social indicators in 2022 and 2023, in order to return to pre-pandemic levels and to be able to guarantee, especially, the economic and social rights of those who depend on these productive chains,” said the official.

According to data from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), the economic recovery in Santa Marta has helped to improve the employability situation. However, vulnerability has been evidenced in the business fabric and a large number of informal micro enterprises with 95% of the sector.

In this regard, the entity indicated that the Office of the Delegate Ombudsman for Economic, Social and Cultural Affairs will provide support to help the productive sectors of the region to articulate and strengthen the economic sector of its influence.

“The Ombudsman also expressed his concern about the protection of the fundamental right to water, which should be guaranteed taking into account the main problem facing the Santa Marta aqueduct, where high demand exceeds the capacity for purification and where deterioration is evident in the basins of the Gaira, Piedra and Manzanares rivers ”, said the entity.

Finally, the defender expressed his concern about the protection of the fundamental right to water, in order to address one of the main problems faced by this town in the Colombian Caribbean, while working groups are being held with environmental and national authorities to advance the search for a solution structural.

The ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, called last March for efforts to be redoubled in the face of the intensification of the rainy season that Colombia has had, due to the phenomenon of la niña that has been reported in the last month.

So far in 2022, there have been 386 winter emergencies in 280 municipalities in 21 departments. Of these, 210 were mass movements, 76 floods and 31 sudden increases. Approximately 30,000 people have been affected; 48 have been reported dead, 61 have been injured and 3 are missing, reports UNGRD. The most affected departments: Cundinamarca, Antioquia, Cauca, Huila, Tolima, Chocó, Risaralda, Valle and Santander.

The official who visited the municipality of San Carlos, Antioquia, said: “The emergency in San Carlos, like those that occurred in recent weeks in other regions of the country, are an example of the emergencies that could arise, according to the warnings issued by the National Disaster Risk Management System, in which the the possibility of an increase in rainfall that may reach historical levels”. In addition, he added that in this municipality 250 families were affected by the growing San Carlos River.

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