Ruta del Cacao

The project consists of remodeling and renovating the roadbed, as well as creating a corridor approximately 152.95 km in length with two lanes in each direction between Bucaramanga and Barrancabermeja.

The project, which involves remodeling and improving part of the existing roadway and designing and building a new road, will improve traffic conditions in the region, strengthening opportunities for economic development and boosting employment and the supply chain to eastern Colombia, where national bulk petroleum production takes place.

The road includes the construction of two tunnels, La Sorda and La Paz, that are 5.96 kilometers long and enable bypassing the rocky soil from Serranía de La Paz which the new road will cross, along with 34 new bridges and viaducts, Connecting the regions of Antioquia and Santander al Río Magdalena (inland waterway cargo transport) and forming part of the corridor connecting the country with Venezuela.

Corporate Social Responsibility

The Ruta del Cacao highway is participating in a social event to help those displaced from Venezuela.

Participation involves changing the narrative that excludes this vulnerable population, as well as creating cooperative networks with the sectors that are essential for an individual’s integration. Notable organizations that are participating are the Colombian Red Cross, the Red Santander Responsable y Sostenible, the UIS’s Escuela de Estudios Industriales y Empresariales, and the Fundación Jaime Andrés. From the perspective of the socio-environmental management being carried out by the project team, the following are of particular note:  workshops on Road Culture, training activities in the community from the area of influence, recreational days at the schools in the area of influence, the direct and indirect creation of more than 2,300 jobs, workshops at educational centers on protecting the fauna and flora, etc.

Restoration of the Nueva Bélgica school 

A new school was built for 30 children from the El Tapazón subdivision in the Municipality of Betulia-Santander, which has 4000 m² with the following infrastructure: 

• 2 Classrooms 
• 1 Breakout classroom 
• 1 Systems classroom 
• 1 Library classroom 
• 1 Coordination office 
• 1 Snack area 
• 6 Bathrooms 
• 1 multipurpose court 
• 1 Park 
• Relevant closures to ensure student safety 

An investment of COL $1,500,000,000 was made for the construction of this educational institution.

A drinking water supply project for the community of Villa Maria, El Pozo, and San Silvestre

A total investment of COL $486,495,002 will be made to benefit 350 people from the subdivisions of Villa Maria, El Pozo, and San Silvestre, located in the Municipality of Lebrija–Santander, which will be able to access drinking water through the construction of a domestic water supply system and the provision of home filtration systems for water treatment. The community will also receive support in forming an associative group for administering water resources at the community level to maintain infrastructure and the operation of the built supply system. Training will be carried out on different topics related to comprehensive water management, and monitoring water quality will be done to ensure that it is suitable for human consumption. This project will be implemented in the first half of 2020.  

Social Infrastructure Program

The Ruta del Cacao highway, together with the NGO Acción contra el Hambre, established a drinking water treatment system on February 12, 2020 that benefits up to 1,200 people from the community of Portugal and its surroundings, both which are inside the municipality of Lebrija-Santander in Colombia. The project consists of an aqueduct that improves access to drinking water and its sanitation, thus preventing disease while generating employment for its residents. 

This is one of the four projects we have carried out in the municipality of Lebrija, in collaboration with Acción Contra el Hambre, to guarantee safe water access for vulnerable populations. The communities of Lisbon, San Benito, San Nicolás and Portugal in Colombia, with their more than 2,800 residents, are benefiting from the installation of this type of water treatment plants through the improvement in storage and distribution systems, which represent an investment of more € 470,000.

Environment

As for environmental management, there have been forest offsets that have reached 40 abarco trees and 681 trees belonging to the guaiacum, gualanday, cedar, saman, and Albizia guachapele species. Moreover, 4,098 epiphytical plants and 15,959 saplings have been rescued alive and conserved for their later relocation.