The roads to peace
THE UPGRADING OF THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS CONSIDERED BY THE AUTHORITIES AS A MAJOR PEACE-BUILDING PROJECT

Colombia’s transportation infrastructure is receiving new impetus for growth and improvement under President Andres Pastrana’s administration, especially concerning the nation’s road network. The Transportation Ministry and the National Highway institute have opened new highway concession projects that will increase investments in road construction and upgrades for the years to come. Currently there are 22 such projects under construction, eight under licensing and another 25 new projects to be licensed. In total, the projects call for the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of 4,050 miles of roads. Additional investments also involve state and city road networks, railroads and both sea and river ports.
“In Colombia there is a low ratio of paved roads to square kilometer or to number of inhabitants, which is how roadway development is measured,” explains Colombian Transportation Minister Gustavo Adolfo Canal Mora. “And we are seeking through all means formulas that will bring us up to date and are working to make sure private investment in the sector finds its way to Colombia.”

The Transportation Ministry has a huge role in President Pastrana’s ambitious Plan Colombia for economic and social development and peace. The ministry has even come up with a program called “Vias Para la Paz”, which can be loosely translated as “Ways for Peace”. The US$400 million program started last year and covers all different means of transportation, although its main focus is on the rural road network. “About $32 million is to go to improve waterways and $8 million for small airports in conflictive areas and the rest will go for roads,” Mr. Canal says.

He adds that the roads under consideration in the program have little traffic volume but are of major importance to Plan Colombia, as they all pass through cultivation areas for illegal coca plants. “We are looking to provide opportunities in regions where all these illicit crops exist,” Mr. Canal explains.“Many peasants find themselves in a region where they cannot commercially produce anything else than coca because there are no roads or because the roads are so bad that transporting a ton of corn or yucca or a cow would be too expensive,” he says.
So far the program has reached 228 small towns and villages, or about 25% of the country’s 1,040 tiny municipalities. Completion of the program will take about three years and massive investment.
“This government is committed. The investment so far under the Ways for Peace plan is four times more than has been made in the past 20 years. In three years we are going to do what has never been done,” Mr. Canal concludes.