By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BOGOTA, Colombia – According to a Colombian radio report, aid, including food, for nearly 40,000 families impacted by last year’s flooding will soon perish. A local chamber of commerce has suspended delivery to victims due to apparent cost overruns in aid spending, causing the food to spoil.
The suspension order came after Sandra Morelli, Colombia’s comptroller general, warned that some of the food products, along with hygiene kits, might be being bought at unnecessarily high prices. Gustavo Marin Rincon, the owner of the site where the aid is being stored has asked the chamber of commerce to lift the suspension, at least temporarily. Rincon fears that any delay in delivering supplies could risk worsening the humanitarian situation in the region.
According to Morelli, the department has seen a 39% excess in the price of basic necessities, such as food and toiletry kits, to the region to help flood victims. Recently, research into corrupt practices found significant differences in the costs of goods as recorded in the contracts and those for the goods which were actually included in the food and bathroom kits.
In one example, the research found that a pound of rolled oats costs about $1.20 according to the contract, but the oats included in the food kits cost just $0.3 per pound. Morelli has also requested that the origin and quality of the products be tested, as many of the products are apparently Chinese and low quality.
Following the floods, which impacted over a million people, the Colombian government claimed that over $500 million would be necessary to aid the flood relief. Since that time, the aid project has been riddled with problems over the distribution of money.
For more information, please see:
Colombia Reports –Aid Supplies to Flood Victims not Reaching 40,000 Families – 22 March 2011
Colombia Reports – Flood Aid Misused in North Colombia: Comptroller – 14 March 2011
The Korea Herald – Colombia Requests Aid for Rain, Flood Victims – 13 March 2011
