Thousands of Colombians living in shelters after floods wrecked their homes could be plunged into fresh crisis, says rights group
BOGOTA (AlertNet) – Thousands of Colombians still living in makeshift shelters a year after floods destroyed their homes could be plunged into fresh crisis by the looming rainy season, rights group Refugees International says.
The country’s independent auditor has also accused some local authorities of putting people’s lives at risk by failing to take even basic flood prevention measures.
Severe intermittent flooding caused by heavy rains over the last two years has disrupted the lives of more than three million Colombians, uprooted thousands from their homes and destroyed swathes of farmland.
In the hardest-hit areas across Colombia’s northern provinces and along the Caribbean coast, communities are still reeling from the impact of last year’s floods. Thousands remain in shelters with inadequate water and sanitation.
“The situation still remains quite bad in many parts of the country, including areas that are still flooded from last year,” said Alice Thomas, head of the climate displacement programme at Refugees International.
“Two years of rain have worn away the resiliency of many groups who were poor and vulnerable to begin with. It won’t take a lot to push them back into a crisis mode,” added Thomas, following a trip to Colombia last month.
RACE AGAINST TIME
While a repeat of last year's deluge is unlikely, local forecasters expect heavy rains to batter the Andean nation from now until June, potentially triggering new flooding and landslides, particularly in areas where water levels are still high.
Thomas said more needed to be done at the local level to prepare.
“Whether the new local government officials, who only took office in January, are prepared to respond remains to be seen,” Thomas told AlertNet.
“Many are unlikely to have plans or funds in place to respond, so if the rain is worse than normal, there could be a third year of crisis and widespread displacement. There is also the question of whether flood control infrastructure has been fixed in all areas,” she added.
Earlier this month, Colombia’s comptroller general, Sandra Morelli, said some local authorities were not prepared to deal with more flooding, with basic flood prevention measures, such as unblocking drains and setting up evacuation routes, still lacking.
“Sixty percent of mayors and governors have shown the leadership required to face the magnitude of the rainy season, while others have been indifferent, even indolent, regarding an issue where human lives are at stake,” she was quoted as saying in the Colombian news magazine, La Semana.
According to Morelli, 270 local officials have not submitted flood contingency plans, and as such cannot access state funds to carry out prevention measures.
But Refugees International said the Colombian government had made some progress in speeding up the delivery of food and clean water to flood victims.
"It appears the national government has worked out some of the kinks that hindered flood relief last time. So the hope is that emergency aid will arrive more quickly this time around,” Thomas said.
The government has also stepped up its disaster risk reduction initiatives, including the creation of a national disaster risk management body answering directly to the president, she added.
RELOCATING COMMUNITIES
Government plans are meanwhile under way to resettle communities away from flood-prone regions and secure land to build new homes for displaced families, particularly in northern Colombia.
But local communities need to have a bigger say in deciding where to resettle, Refugees International says in a report due to be released next week.
“The need to more fully engage affected communities themselves in relocation plans, and to ensure their free, prior, and informed consent, should not be overlooked … communities must be given greater opportunity to drive the process rather than be cajoled along,” the report adds.
Making Colombia - a country highly vulnerable to natural disasters - better prepared to cope in the future, largely depends on the capacity of local mayors and governors to implement government initiatives and spend state funds on disaster reduction efficiently, the report says.
“Weak local institutions threaten to undermine new and ambitious central government initiatives ... whether the national government’s new focus on disaster management and climate change adaptation will ultimately prove successful will depend largely on its ability to effectively implement its plans at the local level.”
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