Colombia’s transport minister calls the behavior of mayors who booed him at a local government summit “shameful,” and says he hopes news of the incident will not reach the international press, reports Caracol Radio.
Minister German Cardona, who attended the Federation of Municipalities (Fedemunicipios) meeting to discuss effective resources allocation to mitigate the devastating effects of last years’ rainy season, was shouted down by the mayors.
The minister tried to explain that “those resources [for the reconstruction of tertiary roads] that were going to be in the hands of the mayors and the governors, with support from the coffee or farmer’s unions, I tried to explain that the governors had rights. And they began to cry out, Out! Out! Out the Minister,” according to Caracol.
Cardona said that the national government’s intention is to decentralize the resources earmarked for flood relief so that the spending can be monitored.
Cardona told Carocol he hopes the embarrassing episode does not reach the international press.
This rainy season has had devastating effects on national roads; in mid-January there were still five national highways closed and 240 routes restricted across the country.
