Colombia consolidated the reactivation of 4G highways during 2020

By ANI

This is a machine translation of the original press release issued in Spanish.

The reactivation of works in 49 projects and the generation of 64,000 direct jobs have been the milestones of the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic in Colombia, which has allowed it to contribute to the revitalization of the country's economy and comply with the policy of the National Government to conclude, conclude, conclude.

Of the 49 projects in which the works were reactivated as of April of last year, 22 are port, airport, rail and first and third generation, while 27 correspond to the Fourth Generation of concessions (4G), a program that achieved consolidate itself in the midst of the health crisis, as stated by the president of the ANI, Manuel Felipe Gutiérrez.

“The works throughout the country have taken on a very strong dynamic, which makes them one of the dynamizers of the Colombian economy. In total, the 4G program is worth $45.48 billion, we have executed more than $24.14 billion, of which this government has executed $16.69 billion, and each month there are $ 600,000 million per work, which are generating about 64,000 direct jobs and about 140,000 in total with indirect ones. For this year we hope to deliver seven concessions, in 2022 there will be ten and last year we delivered one”.

The one that was delivered in its entirety is Girardot-Honda-Puerto Salgar, a 190-kilometer highway that benefits more than 260,000 people from Girardot, Nariño, Beltrán, Honda, Guaduas and La Dorada, among other municipalities, as it extends over the departments of Cundinamarca, Caldas and Tolima and connects with the Neiva-El Espinal-Girardot (NEG) and Girardot-Ibagué-Cajamarca (GICA) projects.

TWO MAJOR PROJECTS, IN PROGRESS

During this period, the ANI has also fully followed the instructions of the president, Iván Duque, to carry out projects that for different reasons were paralyzed and that are key to the development of the country.

One of them is Cambao-Manizales, which was at 0%, but thanks to the start of works on the section from Ibagué to Honda, the general maintenance of the road between Murillo and Alto de Ventanas, as well as the re-leveling of the road In about 10 kilometers it has created more than 600 jobs and today it is already at 14% of execution.

Another major 4G project that was reactivated was that of the IP Expansion to Third Lane Double Calzada Bogotá-Girardot after the signing of Other No. 3 and Suspension Act No. 2. Through these agreements, the conditions were defined to achieve the execution of this important project, guaranteeing its bankability. This reactivation will generate about 1,350 jobs in the region.

"With the reactivation of the works in the sector, we not only contribute to the recovery of the economy, but we also repower the infrastructure sector, which is key to the country's productivity, since it has generated more than 64 thousand jobs in the regions and has allowed to advance in the modernization and in the transformation of Colombia connecting lives," said Angela María Orozco, Minister of Transportation.

COLOMBIANS BENEFITED AND GRATEFUL

Meanwhile, on March 4, two sections of the Rumichaca-Pasto project were put into service, a road corridor that presents an 89% progress and has generated 4,926 jobs for the benefit of the inhabitants of Ipiales, Gualmatán, Contadero, Puerres, Funes, Iles, Tangua, Yacuanquer, Imues and Pasto.

"As the travel times from our village to the rest of the department have been reduced, we can also take the products we harvest faster, such as potatoes or olloco, and thus we can move forward thanks to all the benefits they have brought to our community, the orchards, the stoves and a road in better conditions," affirmed José José Javier Rojas, a farmer from Nariño who grows vegetables and other products from the region in a completely organic way.

Another example of the reactivation of 4G projects in times of pandemic is that of Pacífico 1, which registers an advance of 63.19% and whose workforce in the area of influence has a significant presence of women among the approximately 3,500 jobs it has generated.

One of the cases is that of Nataly Zapata, administrative head in the Amagá Tunnel, who affirms: “For me, the fact that women can be given the opportunity in positions that are destined for men, means that we can also achieve our goals, dreams, that we can be professionals; represents gender equity in the workplace.”

Likewise, the progress of the Vías del Nus project in Antioquia stands out, which at the beginning of the current government had 1.8% progress and today it is 83%, and which has also employed 2,791 people.

One of them is Martha Carvajal, 57, who works as a tourist guide in the townships of Santiago and El Limón. "I had asked God for the opportunity to be a tour guide before retiring and, as we say here, to be able to retire doing what I like the most," he says.

THE CHALLENGES FOR 2021

The seven 4G concessions that the ANI expects to deliver this year are the Pacifico 2 Connection Highway, in Antioquia; Cartagena Barranquilla-Circunvalar de la Prosperidad, on the Atlantic Coast; Puerta de Hierro-Cruz del Viso, in Sucre, Bolívar and Atlántico ; Neiva-Espinal-Girardot, between Huila and Tolima; Vías del Nus, in Antioquia; Pasto-Rumichaca, in Nariño, and the Transversal del Sisga, which will connect Cundinamarca, Boyacá and Casanare.

Another challenge is to advance in the development of the Bicentennial Concessions (5G Projects). Currently, the ANI is advancing the award processes of 15 projects corresponding to the first wave, which is made up of (i) 8 highway projects; (ii) 4 airport projects; (iii) 2 navigability projects; and (i) 1 railway project, which demonstrate the commitment of the National Government to develop multimodal projects that guarantee connectivity in the national territory in different ways.