During the First Public Table of the School Feeding Program (PAE) in the municipality of Neiva, Mayor Germán Casagua stated that the service is being offered without setbacks. In addition, he pointed out that, after monitoring the operator, they have decided not to cancel 140 million pesos due to deficiencies identified during visits to educational institutions.
Diario del Huila, Neiva
In a day of transparency and commitment to the educational community, The mayor of Neiva, Germán Casagua, chaired the First Public Table of the School Feeding Program (PAE) 2024. The event, held at the INEM Julián Motta Salas Educational Institution, stood out for the delivery of a detailed report on the first three months of program management.
Since taking office in January, Mayor Casagua has placed special emphasis on exhaustively supervising the operation of the PAE, ensuring that the resources invested are effectively allocated to guarantee adequate nutrition for all children and young people in educational institutions. Township.
«Since the beginning of our management as mayor of the Neivanos, we have carried out constant supervision to ensure that the resources allocated to the school feeding plan are used in a comprehensive manner. We have dedicated ourselves to supervising both the quality and quantity of the food distributed, thus guaranteeing adequate nutrition for our student community.«.
During the public table, Casagua reported on various actions undertaken to optimize the program. One of the notable measures was the redistribution of resources, correcting inequalities in the allocation of rations. “Educational institutions with food surpluses were identified, while others lacked the necessary attention,” the official said.
An emblematic example was the rehabilitation of the educational institution in the Cuarto Centenario neighborhood, which had remained inactive for more than a year and a half. “Thanks to the actions of the local government, more than 400 students now benefit from the PAE in this area, with an expansion planned to reach an additional 300 students in the capital of Huila”.
Resources
In terms of financing, Mayor Casagua assured that the necessary financial resources for the program have been guaranteed. With a commitment of nearly 9 billion pesos of the municipality’s own resources and significant support from the National Government of around 8 billion pesos, solid financing has been achieved. In addition, nearly 1.6 billion pesos in royalties will be allocated for investments in the adaptation of kitchens and expansion of lunch coverage in educational institutions.
«We made numerous visits to the National Government in Bogotá, requesting its support. They committed to contributing a significant sum of around 8 billion pesos. In addition, we have an additional commitment for nearly one billion pesos, for which we are managing its completion. We also decided to invest around 1.6 billion pesos to adapt kitchens and expand lunch coverage in educational institutions, using royalty resources. Currently, we are organizing the project to begin the adaptations as soon as possible.«explained German Casagua.
Sanctions
Regarding supervision and control, the mayor highlighted the importance of monitoring PAE contractors. Thanks to these measures, the cancellation of 140 million pesos was avoided due to findings found in supervision.
Regarding compliance by contractors, Casagua pointed out that it is not possible to quantify a precise percentage. “However, approximately 140 million pesos in findings were identified, which we have recorded in the monitoring minutes and we have decided not to cancel.”
«The requirement to pay social security for food handlers is a vitally important aspect that we have prioritized.«said the mayor. «It is the responsibility of the municipality to guarantee that the operator complies with legal requirements, including social security, for more than 400 women and men who carry out this work.«.
There are no security alerts
Regarding the existence of threats by groups outside the law towards the operators of the School Feeding Program (PAE) in rural areas, similar to what happened in Algeciras, the president of Neiva indicated: «So far we have not received alerts from the operators in the provision of the service. We are carrying out comprehensive monitoring to ensure not only the quality of food, but also the provision of school feeding in rural areas.»
The mayor highlighted that more than 14 thousand food rations are being delivered, emphasizing that different modalities are used depending on the infrastructure of each educational institution. In those where there are no dining rooms or kitchens, industrialized foods are provided.
Attorney General’s Office Alert
Within the framework of the supervision of the School Feeding Program (PAE), the First Delegate Attorney General’s Office for Preventive Surveillance of the Public Service has sent communications alerting about the risk of interruption in 35 territorial entities.
This is because, to date, these entities have contracts that have expired or are about to expire, which not only affects the continuity of the service, but also endangers the right to food of more than 652,964 children and adolescents. .
Among the entities in this situation are Sabaneta, Sogamoso, Zipaquirá and Cartago, whose contracts ended in March. A similar situation occurs in Amazonas, Bello, La Estrella, Soledad, Cartagena, Duitama, Florencia, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Fusagasugá, Villavicencio, Norte de Santander, San Andrés and Providencia, Barrancabermeja, Bucaramanga, Girón, Piedecuesta, Ibagué, Cali and Valle del Cauca, where some contracts have already ended and others are about to end in April.
Added to this worrying situation of uncertainty in the continuity of the PAE are the municipalities and departments of Itagüí, Bolívar, Boyacá, Casanare, Funza, Girardot, Mosquera, Magdalena, Nariño, Putumayo and Vichada, where the contracts end in May.
These figures come from reports prepared by officials of the same Certified and non-certified Territorial Entities, the Special Administrative Unit for School Feeding (UAPA), attorney offices and legal entities, who collect data in visits and field work.
Given this worrying panorama, the Attorney General’s Office has requested information from the respective authorities about the status and/or progress of the new contractual processes, recommending that the new contracts guarantee the provision of the service during the rest of the school calendar to avoid interruptions.
In addition, the control entity has required the entities to provide explanations about the operational, technical and legal reasons why, in cases where the contracts have ended, the corresponding process has not yet begun.
The Attorney General’s Office will continue to take measures to prevent the occurrence of actions that affect rights, through the identification and warning of risks in public management.
