This week the usual happened. It rained, and days later the water was still there. The Archipielago Press reported on Thursday that in the island's flood zones rainwater stays pooled for several days because the storm networks barely work, and it charged that those works remain unfinished despite multimillion contracts that, according to the outlet, were half-executed, overpriced and poorly built.

Anyone living in the island's low-lying areas doesn't need to be told. In October, Víctor Henao, former chair of the Chamber of Commerce board, told Caracol Radio that in Sarie Bay the water can reach one metre, mixes with sewage, gets into homes and makes it hard to reach two schools. He recalled that a class action (acción popular) was filed over the problem 32 years ago, and the station notes there have been court rulings since 2005. On the same network, Raizal surveyor Joseph Mejía put it plainly: «There is no quality of life here».

A history of announcements

What weighs most is not the rain. It is the collection of announcements. In May 2021 the Housing Ministry announced the start of the first phase of District 4 storm drainage, with 50 billion pesos for 14,000 residents, and promised people there would stop suffering floods. In July 2022, when about a hundred neighbours marched to Newball Avenue, the Water vice-minister was already talking about a total of some 65 billion, with royalties and land purchases, according to Radio Seaflower.

In February 2024 another figure appeared: an updated master plan for the basin between the Back Road descent and Carrera 13, with 7 billion for a first stage and 195.474 billion for the second, of which the national government would contribute 43 billion, for 13,676 residents. And on 17 October, during the presidential visit, the Housing Ministry announced 20.341 billion for water and sanitation and a technical working group on 21 October «to move forward» on the Storm Drainage Master Plan.

Three national governments, several departmental administrations, figures that rise and fall. And the puddle, in the same place.

What the Comptroller already said

This is not just neighbourhood grumbling. In 2021, as El Extra reported, the Comptroller General's Office found a presumed fiscal loss of 2.712 billion in San Andrés' Departmental Water Plan: sanitary sewer works in Cabañas, Sarie Bay and Barrio Modelo received through partial certificates that were neither fully built nor working. The 5.046 billion contract had been suspended since March 2020 and, according to the watchdog, lacked prior studies.

It was sanitary sewerage, not storm drainage, but in Sarie Bay's streets both waters end up being the same. And it must be said precisely: a finding is not a conviction and names no culprits. It is an official precedent that demands scrutiny of every peso announced for drainage. Likewise, the overruns The Archipielago Press mentions must be verified by the oversight bodies. That is why the questions go to whoever holds the paperwork.

What the island has a right to know

Before another working group is installed and another photo taken, the Governor's Office and the Housing Ministry should answer publicly, with documents:

  • How much of the 50 billion announced in 2021 for District 4 was contracted, how much paid, and which sections work today?
  • What happened to the 195.474 billion stage announced in 2024? Is the money secured or is it still a study?
  • How did the sewer contract suspended since 2020 end, and what became of the 2.712 billion fiscal finding?
  • What was agreed at the 21 October working group? Are there minutes, a timeline and named officials in charge?
  • Which court orders on Sarie Bay remain unmet, and why?

And while the works arrive, a measurable contingency plan: scheduled cleaning and pumping before every rainy season, marked manholes so no motorcyclist falls into a hole he can't see, and safe routes for the children at those schools.

In San Andrés we have learned to live with many things: power cuts, the water truck, the flight that doesn't leave. We should not learn to live with dirty water in the living room. Nobody controls the rain. What happens to the drainage money, somebody does.

Armando Archbold, periodista del Externado con maestría en política, editor de WiNyuuz

Sources