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Rebuilding Post-Earthquake Colombia
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 | | For Jabel Pastrana and his family, it was “God´s will” that they survived the January 25, 1999 earthquake that killed 1,185 people and left 150,000 homeless in Colombia. But having a home again is another matter. If it weren’t for the reconstruction efforts, they would be still living in a tent. “We are very grateful to God for being alive. But now we are very grateful to all the assistance for having a roof again,” said 45-year-old Pastrana. After months being homeless with his mother, wife and two children, the family is now back in a home rebuilt with funds from an earthquake recovery project, being supported by the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and other donors. On Tuesday, the World Bank approved an additional $225 million emergency loan for the project. | | | | | | The World Bank expects the loan will benefit about 560,000 people by rebuilding and repairing public infrastructure, as well as some 80,000 houses. “This is a comprehensive project intended to help resume the lives and economy of the earthquake’s affected population,” said Andres Solimano, the World Bank’s Director for Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. “Our goal is not only to rebuild the physical infrastructure, but to reactivate the community links by helping people help themselves.” After the earthquake, which measured 6.2 on the Richter scale, devastated the coffee producing region of Eje Cafetero—an area of 1,360 square kilometers west of Bogota located in the departments of Caldas, Quindio, Risaralda, Tolima and Valle de Cauca—the World Bank approved $93.2 million in reformulated loans in early August to support the reconstruction program. Under the project, each eligible family—whether a house-owner or a tenant—receives a subsidy of up to $6,000 to repair or rebuild the unit, and to relocate it if it was in a risky area. Subsidies are targeted to the lowest income strata. “In addition to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of public infrastructure, schools, health facilities and water systems, we are working with subsidies to rebuild destroyed and damaged homes,” said Teresa Lozano, Advisor to the Fund for the Reconstruction and Social Development of the Coffee Growing Region (FOREC in Spanish). “The beneficiary decides what kind of house he or she wants and chooses among projects and construction companies.” NGO involvement has helped the community rebuild their houses and social infrastructure, and restore economic activity. Bureaucracy has been reduced to a minimum. The second floor came crashing down at once. Now we have a roof again, but we still need money to finish rebuilding the bathrooms,” says Pastrana. He has been unemployed since the earthquake, after having worked as an electrician in Armenia, the capital of El Quindio Department and the city most impacted by the disaster. “The NGOs have been very helpful. Their representatives went to the bank with my mother and advised us on how to keep the costs down,” explains Pastrana. Homeless for months, he is proud to have received Colombia’s President Andres Pastrana (no relation) in his living-room to talk about the reconstruction project. Helpful links: To learn more about the Bank’s work in Colombia, click here. | | | | | | |  | | | The loan will benefit about 560,000 people by rebuilding and repairing public infrastructure, as well as some 80,000 houses. | | | |
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