President Santos said his administration is dedicated to developing more projects and repairing the damage caused by the winter rains instead of seeking the quick execution of public works, which would be more popular but less responsible.
The head of state also said that his government is committed to taking the time necessary to study and better structure some projects that were put in place by the previous administration.
“The country will not tolerate more cases like those of the Coffee Highway and Bogota-Giradot double highway which are going for the throne of the infrastructure works with the biggest overspend,” admitted Santos.
The Colombian President added that between now and 2014 there will be historically high investment in infrastructure of $7.3 billion and that he does not want any more “fiascoes” like Calle 26 in Bogota.
According to the President of the Chamber of Infrastructure Juan Martin Caicedo, Colombia suffers from a lack of careful planning and timely completion of public infrastructure projects.
Caicedo said that financial planning for infrastructure projects was “abysmal,” with cost estimates usually falling far short of actual costs of projects.
This was confirmed by a comparative analysis of the predicted cost and the actual cost of public works, prepared by the director of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Mario Pezzini, which showed a substantial difference between the two.
Caicedo believes that if Colombia is able to eradicate these irregularities the country will be able to rid itself of the poor rating given to it by the OECD.
