Gustavo Petro in La Guajira.
Photo: ANDREA PUENTES
From Manaure, in La Guajira, President Gustavo Petro assured that, although his Government has tried to solve the problem of drinking water in the department, “political power” has prevented them from doing so.
This Saturday, in the midst of delivering drinking water and food security solutions to communities in La Guajira, the president indirectly referred to the corruption scandal surrounding the purchase of tank trucks to bring drinking water to the department. According to him, he said, “the cachacos that we sent here, apparently, sought to steal the money.”
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The statement comes just one day after a new chapter in the tanker scandal of the National Unit for Risk Management (UNGRD) broke out. According to the testimony of Sneyder Pinilla, several congressmen and executive officials would be involved in a corruption network.
This Friday, May 3, sources close to the Casa de Nariño confirmed that Petro asked Sandra Ortiz, Regional Minister, and Andrés Idárraga, Transparency Secretary, to step aside from their positions while investigations related to the scandal progress. The head of state assured that he cannot “be the judge,” but that it is necessary for the investigations to yield results soon to determine the responsibilities that may arise.
“I ask the commanders of the Military Forces to be present, the priority of the Military Forces in this department is to take care of the water”: the president also said this Saturday at the delivery of the first water purification plant in Manaure, in the framework of the ‘La Guajira Mission’ project.
