He did not manage to improve and update the POT through Planning, to organize the city, and the PEMP to protect the heritage of the historical sector.
By Aura Isabel Olano Correa
About issues of great importance to the city, The bell He spoke with the architect Diego Caldas Varona, a member of the VEER Popayán Citizen Oversight Office and a Payan resident concerned about the organization of the city and the protection of the heritage that the historic sector houses. “Popayán without a historic sector is nothing”he claimed.
Caldas Varona referred to the Territorial Planning Plan (POT), cornerstone of the order and development of the city, and the Special Plan for the Management and Protection of the Historic Sector (PEMP), essential plans for Popayán, before which the administration of Mayor Juan Carlos López Castrillón was ineffective, like other city projects that were even part of his development plan.
LC The López Castrillón administration ends without a new POT, which has the city plunged into chaos, nor did it develop the PEMP which, without the managing entity, the historical sector and its heritage are more affected every day. Did you lack city management and vision?
D.C.V. He did not have a vision for the city, we think that this mayor, Juan Carlos López Castrillón, could understand and project the development of the city in a logical way and with a master development plan, such as the Territorial Planning Plan (POT), which it did not do. He did not get the Planning Secretariat to develop it, nor the Special Plan for Management and Protection of the Historic Sector. In the first week of his government, the Citizen Oversight Office and I, who at that time was in Washington, contacted Ximena Velasco Chaves, the then Secretary of Municipal Planning, since we had worked a lot in the managing entity and in everything that was needed to have better management of the historic sector with the creation of an office to guide the development and protection of the city, but we were never consulted or invited to participate in this project, because this administration, more than any other, with a smile all the time, he refused to open the door to citizen participation to those of us who ‘bother’, who have the capacity, knowledge and experience to contribute and facilitate things, neither to the community action boards nor to the inhabitants of the city center. We feel that the work we did in previous administrations, such as those of Messrs. Francisco Fuentes and César Cristián Gómez, was totally lost in the Planning Secretariat, despite having some trained people, but everyone passes the ball to the other.
Diego Caldas Varona, architect, member of the VEER Popayán Veeduría.
LC What is needed to make the MEWP effective?
D.C.V. Let it apply. Improving and updating the PEMP is not that difficult, it can be carried out in a year and a half, we already know clearly what points we must improve to allow the city to organize itself, progress, we can have residence within the historic sector, adjust some of the rules without deteriorating or compromising the heritage, but that was not done, neither the administration that is ending nor in the previous ones, Popayán has been abandoned by its mayors.
LC Exactly, what is missing from the MEWP for it to be applied?
D.C.V. The PEMP was made and has designs, the conflicts that exist between the same project and annex four must be resolved, which was a request to the PEMP team at the last minute and was carried out by only two people, who went property by property in the sector. historical making observations and delimiting what was possible to do, which often conflicts with what already had a more general vision in the body of the MEWP itself. These differences must be resolved to make it easier for builders and advisory offices to manage and apply the MEWP in a better way. Some points that have already been identified must be adjusted in terms of densities and land use. Carrying out the updating of this planning instrument is not difficult for connoisseurs and experts, but it was impossible for them to reach an agreement in the municipal administration in these four years.
LC The Historical Sector Office has not been created, how important is it for the PEMP to work?
D.C.V. The historic sector office is absolutely key, because it has the task of guiding people who want to improve their property, building, house or build in this area of the city. It tells them what it is possible to do, with what parameters, at what heights, with what materials or in what context the design should be to make it easier for builders or property owners to improve them in accordance with the standards established for the historic sector. This unit must be organized as established by the Special Management and Protection Plan (PEMP).
Popayán, after many years, finds itself without POT or PEMP, which are planning instruments.
LC Was it lack of political will, ignorance, carelessness or what?
D.C.V. I would call it arrogance, arrogance and egos, what a shame to talk like that about my colleagues, they will probably say the same about me, but there really is no valid excuse for that.
LC But the conductor is the mayor, if he doesn’t dot the i’s on priority issues, who can do it?
D.C.V. Maybe the mayor lives very busy. Dear mayor: I don’t know what happened, but we were left without an update of the PEMP and without POT. The PEMP did not have to be rewritten or invented, because it is already done, just update it and facilitate its application, it is a shame that it has not been done, the historical sector office is key, because it facilitates, instructs and issues concepts to guide people about what you can or cannot do.
LC What does the López Castrillón administration still owe to Popayán?
D.C. V. I leave it to the conscience of the mayor. We hoped that he would understand the fundamental issues of the city, that he would lead the processes to give Popayán direction for the future, to protect and value the heritage, which we are running out of every day. Popayán without a historical sector is nothingwaste a historical sector which can be the engine of economic development of the city, it is incredible.
Creating the historical sector office is key, because it facilitates, instructs and issues concepts to guide people on what they can or cannot do.
In an interview I did with the former mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosa, I asked him his opinion on these problems in Popayán, he laughed and answered: but what problems, if you can handle them so easily, there is the opportunity to have the best city of the continent because of its climate, its greenery, its heritage, they have everything, what are they waiting for… And it’s true, people are looking for a pleasant climate, a city without pressure, not so big, with good services, which can bring them important resource flow. At this moment there are American, European, and even Colombian retirees who want to live in nice cities, with the proceeds of their pensions they can live very well and help boost their economy and carry out sustainable development.