Buenaventura reconstruction plan after quake
The president went to Buenaventura with a hospital ship, tent wards and promises to fix problems the city has had for decades. The money behind it all is another matter. The post Buenaventura reconstruction plan after quake appeared first on The Rio Times .
Colombia's new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, visited the devastated Pacific port city of Buenaventura one week after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the region. The city, central to Colombia's trade and already neglected, suffered heavily from the quake, with 289 confirmed deaths and over 186,000 people affected. President de la Espriella brought a hospital ship, the Benkos Biohó, and a list of promises for the city's healthcare and housing systems.
The ship, which will stay in Buenaventura for five days before traveling to outlying villages, provides surgical care, lab tests, and X-rays. It also delivers medical supplies, tent wards, and surgeons from Bogotá to treat patients too far away to reach clinics. The government is implementing self-build housing programs, supplying materials and professional supervision while families rebuild their homes. Those whose homes are destroyed receive a rent subsidy.
The government is also addressing the city's long-standing grievances with water supply and sewerage, though no specific peso figure has been disclosed. Meanwhile, the city's damage count has risen to 10,148 homes affected, 954 destroyed, and 26 deaths. An unusually high tide, known as a puja, flooded several neighborhoods on August 16, causing further displacement.
The reconstruction plan is part of a national scheme called Plan Milagro de Reconstrucción, funded through the Fondo Milagro, which aims to pool public and private money for rebuilding across Colombia. So far, Colombia has drawn US$200 million from a World Bank catastrophe credit line worth up to US$450 million. Private donors have also contributed, with amounts earmarked for hospitals and schools in Cali, rather than Buenaventura.
Despite these efforts, the reconstruction bill is estimated to reach roughly COP 20 trillion (US$6.4 billion), or around 1% of Colombia's economy. The president has announced an economic-emergency decree, but the details of Fondo Milagro's legal structure, administrator, and total size remain unknown. At the same time, Colombia is battling wildfires and facing threats from the ELN guerrilla group in the northeast.
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