5,800 inhabitants of Providencia and Santa Catalina have benefited of the work carried out. To date, more than 18,000 tons of debris have been removed.
Since Hurricane Iota left more than 90 percent of the infrastructure of Providencia and Santa Catalina destroyed in November 2019, the Military Forces began to work jointly, coordinated and interinstitutional for the care, stabilization and recovery of this Colombian paradise.
The National Army has conducted a series of activities that have benefited more than 5,000 inhabitants of these islands, where the Command of Engineers has helped with Resources and logistics for the ecological restoration and Comprehensive Action, among others.
For the second phase of work, which consists of the demolition, excavation and transportation of construction material, more than 380 men and women of different battalions of the specialty of Military Engineers were sent to the island to, since the first day, contribute to improving the quality of life of the islanders.
In the same way, more than 2,000 tons of construction material have been unloaded, 510 structures have been demolished and 53 foundations have been excavated that have given way to the construction of new houses. In addition, more than 18,000 tons of debris have been removed and 1,638 tons of construction material have been collected.
For the ecological restoration, once all the technical studies of the ecosystems and the favorable conditions were carried out, the team conducted the cleaning of 11 drainage channels, the construction of 2 forest nurseries, the planting of 600 mangroves and 450 trees of different native trees. In the same way, the extraction of 16 tons of post-consumer waste has been conducted, 42 environmental activities and 12 instructional activities were conducted where inhabitants of the island learned aspects related to the preservation and care of the environment.
On the other hand, the soldiers of the Comprehensive operation conducted activities such as cinema to the park, ciclopaseos (bike riding), circus, murals, improvement of parks, presentations, conferences, video conferences and workshops, among other recreation activities.
Source- press - Military Engineers of the National Army
