The recent summit of governors in the coffee region was used by the governor of the department of Huila, Luis Enrique Dussan, to draw the attention of the national government to the difficulties caused by the winter. The Minister of Transportation promised to come to Huila to meet the needs.
An urgent call to allocate resources to attend to emergencies caused by heavy rains was made by the governor of Huila, Luis Enrique Dussán López, within the framework of the 2023 Governors Summit in Quindío. Huila is one of the departments that has invested the most own resources to address these problems.
There are close to $70,000 million invested in intervening the effects on roads, educational infrastructure, housing, basic sanitation and drinking water in Huila, additionally $5,300 million were allocated from the National Government for yellow machinery that is in execution.
“The first meeting with the president-elect, Gustavo Petro, before he took office, one of the issues we touched on was this winter wave,” recalled the Huilense president.
“There is a critical situation that we have had to face; the government makes the declaration, and in my case I have not had the answer. We have invested close to $70,000 million with the declaration of calamity in Huila, we have a Specific Plan, and $5,000 million from the National Government. And they tell us that they will deliver markets directly to the communities, and we are fixing roads, transferring resources from other programs to attend to the emergency”, indicated the Governor.
He added that Huila is waiting to be heard, “we want the National Government to pay attention to us because there is a lot to do, it is an issue that transcends the economic impact on production and tourism, therefore it is of vital importance.” the president specified.
The Minister of Transport
The Minister of Transportation, Guillermo Francisco Reyes, confirmed his visit to the department of Huila, after listening to the governor of the department in the sense that he felt that the claims and needs of Huila were not being heard.
The National Government official will tour the department’s roads next weekend and will seek solutions to the difficult situation that exists in road material.
“In the next few days we are going to dedicate a full day to go to Pitalito, to San Agustín and to travel the dual carriageway roads, those that have effects in Timana, we are going to talk with the consortium that is in charge of the construction of the road , we are going to solve problems that the communities have been pointing out and with the help of the governor and the ruling class of Huila, the mayors, solutions to the difficult situation generated by the winter wave and by works that are still advancing very slowly, “he said.
The minister, Reyes, will have among the priorities to review the issue of Route 45 in the Pericongo sector that recently caused a tragedy and kept the south of the country incommunicado for several days with the corresponding traumatisms that this generates for the economy of the region.
Neiva’s airport
An issue that the transport minister, Guillermo Francisco Reyes, anticipated, has to do with the Benito Salas airport that serves the capital of Huila.
“We included the issue of the airport. At the end of the year, I asked that the resources be assigned to enable the terminal that always served the Benito Salas airport, because I believe that by enabling both parts of the airport we will have a terminal in better conditions,” said the minister. .
The official sent a message to the people of Huila about the commitments and measures that the national government will be making through its portfolio on the next visit to Huila, “the ministry of the territories will be there, announcing measures, making commitments and bringing the infrastructure that so much he needs this beautiful apartment”, he concluded.
This is how the commitments between the national government and the department of Huila were established, at the governors’ summit held in the city of Armenia, last weekend.