On Saturday, May 4, during the La Guajira Mission initiative, aimed at improving sanitation in marginalized areas through collaborations with private companies, President Gustavo Petro delivered modified bicycles to optimize the transfer of water.
At the same event, the President said that bicycles will also be used to facilitate the transportation of young people and children from the communities in the area to their educational centers.
This delivery of bicycles with drums by the Presidency of the Republic was questioned by members of the opposition and some sectors of Colombian society, who compared the failure of the controversial water tanker initiative in the department of La Guajira and in Instead they took bicycles.
Faced with these criticisms, the director of the Department of Social Prosperity (DPS), Gustavo Bolívar, defended the delivery of the vehicles and confirmed in his X account that it was not the president who delivered the bicycles with drums, but rather it was the initiative of a businessman. Because of this, Bolívar called the opposition “liars.”
The national government official said that the purpose of the bicycles is so that the indigenous people who live in the areas of La Guajira where they were delivered can carry water from the water treatment plant that was built through an agreement between the Petro Government and Guajira Mission, a project of Grupo Aval.
“The lying opposition says that Petro went to Guajira to deliver bicycles with water bottles. These cycles were delivered by a businessman so that the indigenous people could bring water from this powerful water treatment plant powered by solar energy that was delivered by the Government and Mission Guajira,” said the director of the DPS in his X account.
Additionally, the public official accompanied his publication with a video in which he commented: “We are going to Manaure to inaugurate a water purification plant that will supply 15,000 liters of water per day to more than 3,000 indigenous people. They say in this Wayú community that yesterday was the most important day of their lives, because for the first time in history they were going to open a tap through which drinking water would come out. This water treatment plant works with solar energy; Here are the panels: 10 kilowatts of panels.”
Regarding the delivery of the bicycles in La Guajira, the Presidency of the Republic explained in its official X account: “With the aim of guaranteeing the mobility of the communities of La Guajira, the World Bicycle Relief organization has delivered bicycles adapted for transport of water and food, as well as to allow children to travel to their schools. The director of the organization and President Petro carried out a symbolic delivery to Wayúu boys and girls. Also, the President delivered a loquat tree to the Wayúu territorial authority of Kaikashi.”
However, there was multiple criticism of this initiative, in fact, the circumstance even gave rise to the creation of memes by several internet users, taking President Petro and his cabinet as a central figure. This situation sparked a debate around transparency and the national government’s ability to respond to emergencies or resolve fundamental problems, such as crime.
On the other hand, the aforementioned was not the only publication that the director of the DPS, Gustavo Bolívar, made in this regard, since he also wrote in his X account that: “This will not appear in the media. A Wayuu girl thanks Pte Petro for bringing pure water to her community. A water treatment plant that will deliver 15 thousand liters of pure water per day to 486 families within the Misión Guajira program, a joint effort between the Government and the Aval group. With Infobae