Colombian prosecutors warn of Hidroituango risks

Colombia's public prosecutor's office has warned of serious safety breaches related to the troubled Hidroituango project. 

The office said towns located downstream from the dam were endangered by outdated disaster risk management plans and insufficient staff, among other problems.  

It called on project owner Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) to create a strategy aimed at addressing the concerns. 

"It [the dam] currently depends only on the spillway to evacuate the water, and although this risk is reduced when each generation unit enters [into operation], it is not eliminated," read a statement published on the public prosecutor’s website.

The prosecutor's' office ordered EPM to conduct an independent technical evaluation of the project to safeguard against flooding, earthquakes or landslides.

Located on the Cauca River in northwestern Antioquia department, Hidroituango was originally due to begin operating in 2018. 

According EPM, the project is now expected to begin operating from the first two turbines in the second half of the year. 

In addition to a four-year delay caused by a series of construction problems, the project is also running around US$1.5bn over budget. According to the latest estimates, its overall cost will now exceed 18tn pesos (US$4.5bn).

EPM said in January that insurance payouts of more than US$1bn for civil liability claims would allow work on Hidroituango to proceed without further bottlenecks.