Blogging for Colombia
Translated by Patrick Russell
I searched around some Spanish media websites and came across some opinion blogs written by newspaper columnists about various issues in Colombia. Blogging is a relatively new phenomenon in the e-world, but its popularity is growing rapidly as it provides people with a public way of expressing their own personal opinions about various topics. So, I thought that translating a collecting of blog posts by the same writer would be an interesting final project as it is a good reflection of what I feel is the goal of this final project.
All of the following posts are written by Janeth Acevedo as part of the blog section for the Colombian newspaper La República.
Source texts: “Los 513.000 desempleados de Bogotá, el histórico karma”, “Se marchita el Polo en Bogotá”, “Sin problemas a la entrada de Eldorado”.
513,000 Unemployed in Bogota, the Historic Karma
April 5th, 2010
In Bogota, we get used to seeing delays in road work and issues of security stealing news headlines. However, other equally severe problems like the high rate of unemployment in the city go unnoticed.
This is one of the historic karmas of the capital, which keeps growing with every passing month; but, hardly anyone seems to care.
The figures could not be more disturbing. According to a report from the National Administrative Department of Statistics, the unemployment rate in the city reached 12.9% during the quarter from December (2009) to February (2010). This corresponds to a 1.6% increase from the figure reported one year ago.
The preceding statistics mean that there are 513 000 people without jobs in Colombia’s capital, 89 000 more than the same period from 2009.
Even more troubling is that while the level of unemployment has increased by 20%, that of employment has only increased by a measly 3.03%. In effect, the number of people with some sort of work changed from 3.3 million to 3.4 million.
The bad figures are mimicked in the data for underemployment, which increased by 19.5%. In the city, there are 1.1 million residents who are dissatisfied with their jobs which is either due to low salaries, the type of labor they perform or hours worked.
It is certain that this is not an easy problem to solve since the arrival of people from other cities searching for employment opportunities is spiraling out of control. The attraction to the city is due to the nearly 300 000 companies that are based in the capital. Nevertheless, cities like Bucarmanga, where there has been a focus on entrepreneurship and the creation of small and medium sized businesses to boost the level of employment(coincidentally is the city with the lowest unemployment rates in the country), should be taken as examples. Another successful example is that of the Colombian Coffee-Grower’s Axis, where governments in the region fervently created plans to generate work in reaction to social problems in the area.
The private sector must also play its part in this matter to make Bogota a more competitive and productive city.
The Pole Fades Away in Bogota
March 15th, 2010
It doesn’t seem strange that the Democratic Pole has lost power in Bogota. Even though the results of last Sunday’s elections came as a surprise to some of the Pole’s followers, the nonconformity of mayor Samuel Moreno Rojas’ administration is certainly to blame for the electoral loss.
No one is going to deny that leader is working hard. However, the residents of Bogota have not been content with the events and decisions from recent months. Problems with contracts and delays in the road work on Avenue El Dorado, the mess of public transit and the recent hold on transports by the Integrated Public Transport System not only tarnished the image of Moreno, but also the entire left party. This image was also reflected in the polls.
If there was one area where members of the Pole felt calm, it was Bogota. No less could be expected, given that when Samuel was elected over two years ago, the vote was heavily one sided and it was thought that the trend would be similar — although obviously not in the same proportion since the political machinery of the U was in full force.
Indeed, in the elections for the House of Representatives, votes for the presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos’ party exceeded 410 000, which constitutes 30% of the vote in the country’s capital.
These results inevitably have the Pole thinking, as the U21 practically doubled its results. The yellow movement nearly had 216,000 votes, which represents 15% of the vote.
Hopefully the president can move forward. He still has almost two years left to demonstrate that he is a good leader and he should be left to his work, not only for the sake of his party, his image and his political future, but also for the welfare of all who live in the city. More specifically, the city needs the Transmilenio (Rapid Bus System) the Integrated Public Transport System projects to resolve quickly so that efficient transportation is guaranteed.
On another note, the amount of apathy towards the vote in Bogota is impressive. This past election will be recorded as one of the most abstentious. Of the 4.7 million people eligible to vote, only 1.8 million exercised their right. Could it be that it lacked candidates with more proposals and less politicking?
Eldorado’s Entrance Free of Problems
February 15th, 2010
After the the delays in the Phase 3 projects of Transmilenio due to the mess with Nule and the constant traffic jams on Avenue El Dorado, something good has finally happened for Bogota’s mayor, Samuel Moreno Rojas – for now at least.
I speak of the route to Eldorado International Airport’s closure. Many of us have doubts about the changes to the north causeway.
In fact, we expected monumental traffic jams that were worse than usual. However, much to our surprise the road was properly marked and transit officials were coordinating traffic flow. Most of the clueless drivers were from the public service who became disoriented at the peak of the roundabout despite having two stops on the service roads to allow the passing and going of passengers.
At the front of the terminal, things were slightly more complicated due to the quantity of vehicles that were aiming to return to the east of the capital. In the end though, everything is running smoothly enough that it is not necessary to arrive at the airport early to avoid missing your flight.
Hopefully, the feelings of contentment with the traffic organization will last for the two years that it will take for the new passenger terminal to be constructed by Opain under the Eldorado Modernization and Expansion Plan.
