“A catastrophe is coming” in La Guajira – DW – 06/30/2023

President of Colombia, Gustavo PedroThis Thursday (06.29.2023) he officially decreed an economic and social emergency in the department of La Guajira (North), where he has been ruling all week with his cabinet, “because of the general disaster” due to the drought affecting this desert region.

“Declaring an economic and social emergency is absolutely appropriate, because a general disaster is brewing, because all the probabilities of the climate models inform us of the nearness of a drought (…) not seen before in Laos. Kwajira, which worsens event boy and the climate crisis,” said Pedro from the departmental capital of Riohacha.

The president added that it would result in “death of boys and girls, death of the elderly, degradation of human life”.

“We are going to change the priorities for water use throughout La Guajira, the first priority (…) is drinking water for human consumption,” Pedro continued, referring to the scarcity of water resources in the region and how it prioritizes use for other sectors such as crops.

These changes, defended by the President, “are related to the creation of a new institutional structure for water, water cannot be a commodity,” he emphasized in this regard, for which they will create a water agency in the sector.

The government and the general force will deploy a “fleet of cars to take water to the last corner of La Guajira”, the work of restoring half-built wells and the construction of a “pipeline” to transport this resource to the entire region are some of the proposals put on Pedro’s table this Thursday.

Finally, the President asked the Constitutional Court to green light this economic emergency. This tool allows you to approve bills that would normally go to Congress.

The Colombian ruler announced the use of this mechanism a few weeks ago due to the conditions in the desert region of La Guajira, especially the lack of access to water and the country’s high poverty rates and high population. deaths. Children due to malnutrition.

La Guajira is the sector with the most dramatic statistics for child malnutrition in a region with a large population of indigenous communities living with access to the most precarious conditions, with 1,954 acute malnutrition cases among children under 5 in 2022. Difficulties in water, food and other basic services.

loves (efe, rcn)