Colombia´s infrastructure needs

Colombia´s road infrastructure in both urban and rural settings makes for difficult transportation and is one of the reasons, as highlighted by the World Bank, for the country’s lack of economic competitiveness. With mostly one lane intercity highways, it often means that accidents or potholes cause long delays and increased costs for delivery; add to this the wear and tear of the vehicles and the movement of goods become less and less economically efficient.

Attempts to rectify this most fundamental of requirements for a modern, functioning country are of course on-going, and progress is being made, but all the work and improvements have come with their own set of challenges causing knock on delays and bottlenecks on already congested roads.

Nevertheless, in ushering in the new year, President Santos announced approximately $40 billion COP of spending on highway infrastructure, which he said would start 30 different projects throughout the country, all designed to complete the famous ‘la Ruta del Sol’.

This ambitious goal and the significant investment attached to it hope to increase employment opportunities and answer the World Bank’s concerns about the stagnating effect of poor infrastructure on the country’s economic development. The flip side, however, is that as the nation embarks on these major highway projects, it is inevitable that long-term negative effects on traffic flow and environmental impact will be felt.

One current example of this is the transvial between Calarcá (Quindío) y Cajamarca (Tolima), which requires building tunnels through the mountains at a length of 8.5 kilometers – it began in 2005, and is yet to be completed. This project, initially expected for September 2013, has faced several setbacks. It has even been suspended a four times, due to unauthorized changes in the blueprints, water contamination in region, and other irregularities. What´s worse, the Instituto Nacional de Vías (Invías) has failed to contract out the electromechanical work, which could mean we´re at least a year a way from seeing the light at the end of these tunnels.

President Santos’ vision of “connecting [the country] and reducing travel time, employment opportunities, road responsibility and security, improvement in the competitiveness of the production sector, and an increase in tourism as one of the main areas of regional development” resonates with the majority of the population.

Though in pursuing these goals, proper and transparent contracting are paramount if such work is to be carried out efficiently and with minimal environmental damage. But Colombia´s recent history is strewn with irregular, badly or corruptly managed contracting. Will Santos´plan work to avoid delays and harm to those living in the regions were the infrastructure is to be laid down? Time will tell.