Reconstruction in Cities in Colombia After Earthquake Would Cost up to US$8.4 Billion
One month after the earthquake that shook Colombia, the figures continue to be consolidated. For example, it is now clear that the 7.4-magnitude earthquake left a tragic toll of 331 people dead, 2,416 injured, 135 missing or in the process of being verified, and 357 rescued, as well as 542 educational institutions and 63 health centers affected. The figures continue to be adjusted, but another figure has now emerged that has experts thinking.
The Colombian Association of Capital Cities (Asocapitales), one of the key actors in responding to the emergency and now in the reconstruction phase, has stated that the priority of the affected capital cities has changed.
Search efforts, humanitarian assistance and immediate response gave way to a more complex and longer-lasting stage: recovering homes and infrastructure, restoring services, reactivating local economies and structuring the resources necessary to rebuild in a safe and resilient manner.
Need for an exceptional financial architecture
For this reason, the magnitude of the challenge remains considerable. According to the Unified Registry of Disaster Victims (RUD) of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD), as of September 8, Cali, Pereira, Quibdo, Armenia and Manizales have a total of 128,463 affected families and 282,643 affected people. In these five cities, there are also 7,416 destroyed homes and 58,710 uninhabitable homes.
Given this situation, the first thing one thinks about is the physical architecture. But for Asocapitales, reconstruction will require an exceptional financial architecture, which is why the challenge is not solely technical.
Asocapitales preliminarily estimates that the magnitude of the reconstruction could reach 26 trillion pesos (US$8.4 billion). The estimate is subject to validation as the Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (EDAN) processes and final censuses advance.
For this reason, it has proposed a financing architecture that combines available territorial resources, temporary redistribution of some national revenues, greater flexibility in borrowing and liquidity instruments, tax relief and credit for productive reactivation.
It has also proposed increasing the annual quota for Tax-funded Works from 1.1 trillion pesos (US$357 million) to at least 2 trillion pesos (US$65 million), with a specific window for the reconstruction of the affected territories.
The objective is to prevent cities from having to choose between rebuilding infrastructure, protecting employment, financing essential services or preserving their fiscal sustainability.
Five cities advance toward recovery
Although the process is at different stages in each territory, there are already concrete decisions that show the transition toward reconstruction.
Cali is making progress in the recovery of its education system. According to reports from the Education Secretariat, 95% of students in the official system had returned to in-person classes at the beginning of September. All 338 official educational sites were evaluated; 248 were authorized, 81 were partially authorized and nine were not authorized. The Ministry of Education had previously reported that 97% of the sites were fully or partially authorized.
Pereira began adjusting its financial architecture to address reconstruction. The Municipal Council approved the redirection of 85.166 billion pesos (US$27.6 million) from a previously authorized borrowing quota.
The resources may finance demolitions, debris removal, machinery rental, reconstruction, stabilization and recovery works for public infrastructure, including schools, bridges and roads.
The city is also making progress in the recovery of homes through programs such as Dignified Roofs, which had already carried out approximately 400 technical visits at the beginning of September to determine material needs in affected sectors.
Manizales presents one of the most advanced processes of returning to normality. The Mayor’s Office reported that 100% of public educational institutions returned to in-person classes and nearly 97% of businesses were open again. By the end of August, 11,513 visits to properties had been carried out, 21,270 humanitarian kits had been delivered and 2,263 rental subsidies had been allocated.
Armenia approved a roadmap made up of 175 lines of action, covering humanitarian assistance, housing, infrastructure recovery, management of construction and demolition waste, water and sanitation, health, social assistance and economic reactivation. The local administration has indicated that one of the main challenges will be obtaining the financing necessary to turn that planning into concrete interventions.
In Quibdo, reconstruction intersects with historical infrastructure and territorial development challenges. In addition to interventions directly associated with housing, facilities and urban recovery, there is the Marshall Plan for Choco, announced by the National Government and presented in September as a long-term strategy with eight major infrastructure, connectivity, energy, productive development and job creation projects.