In the country, 12 million people have inadequate access to drinking water servicethis represents 25 percent of the population and 3.2 million people do not have any access, this situation being especially critical in the rural sector.
According to the Ministry of Housing, about 1.5 million people carry out their physiological needs outdoors and only 52 percent of wastewater is treated.
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bogota aqueduct
The worst forms of backwardness in terms of water and sanitation occur in a context of poverty
Against this background, the Ministry of Housing announced investments of 663,000 million pesos in 87 initiatives that will be executed in 24 of the 32 departments of the country, to serve 1.3 million people.
Will benefit municipalities that had never received investment in drinking water and basic sanitation such as Lloró (Chocó), Calamar (Guaviare), Puerto Leguízamo (Putumayo), Carurú (Vaupés), Totoró (Cauca), Pueblo Rico (Risaralda) and Barranco de Loba (Bolívar), among others.
«In the Government we understood the urgency of investing in water and basic sanitation, a critical situation that affects, first of all, public health. The worst forms of delay in terms of water and sanitation occur in a context of poverty, inequality and exclusion«, said Minister Catalina Velasco.
Housing Minister, Catalina Velasco.
Ministry of Housing
That’s why, in La Guajira, 10 projects were made viable and in the Pacific Coast 10, of which, eight are in Chocó, where no projects had materialized in 10 years; and 90 percent of the 87 projects in category 5 and 6 municipalities, historically underserved communities.
The Housing Minister also announced that 103,000 million pesos were assigned for the execution of 10 new projects in La Guajira, focused on supplying drinking water for communities. This includes the rehabilitation of more than 560 water infrastructures.
Also highlighted in the National Development Plan included the community subsidy and the direct transfer of resources to the communities. In addition, for the first time, eight projects with unconventional solutions were structured and financed, such as the use of rainwater for human consumption, with an investment of 33,000 million pesos in rural communities of Chocó, Amazonas, Guaviare, Vaupés, Putumayo, Cauca, Boyacá and Risaralda.
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Additionally, 8,000 intra-household connections and main internal networks and derivatives of aqueduct and sanitary sewerage were made possible, with an investment of 80,000 million pesos in 22 municipalities of the country.
In the course of this Government, the Ministry of Housing has completed the infrastructure of 51 drinking water projectsbasic sanitation and cleaning, which began in the previous government for 200,000 million pesos, with contributions from the Nation of 94,000 million pesos.
