BOGOTA: Colombia’s first lady denied allegations of irregularities in the handling of donations to help areas devastated by a recent earthquake, presenting a report Friday on the millions of dollars her foundation has received.
Ana Lucia Pineda, wife of right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella, oversees much of the private donations intended to help hundreds of thousands of victims and repair damage caused by the 7.4-magnitude earthquake on August 10.
The opposition and some survivors say that more than two months later, aid is not reaching the hardest-hit areas in the country’s west, where losses are estimated at about $9.5 billion.
“There is nothing to hide. I don’t need to keep even a grain of anyone’s rice,” Pineda said in an interview with Telecaribe.
Her Luz y Sonrisas foundation, established before the earthquake, has received more than $17 million, according to the figures presented.
More than 48,000 people have received humanitarian aid, the report added, without specifying what kind.
It also did not detail how much money has been spent in areas where thousands of homes, schools and hospitals were left in ruins.
“We have not used those funds because there was enough humanitarian aid,” Pineda said, adding that the money would be used in a second phase of reconstruction.
Senate Vice President Alejandro Ocampo, an opposition politician, questioned the figures presented by Pineda’s foundation and called for an accounting of “how much money was received, who provided it, which accounts it was deposited into and how much has been spent.”
Ocampo noted that several countries had announced donations for victims and criticized the failure to spend the money while families who had lost everything were still sleeping outdoors.
The funds raised by Pineda’s foundation do not include public money.
The earthquake killed more than 330 people and destroyed more than 30,000 homes.
In its report, the foundation said it has delivered 5,600 tons of aid, including water and food, across eight departments.