The President of Colombia, Abelardo De la Espriella, has communicated this Friday the departure of Jaime Uribe as director of the Milagro Funds for reconstruction after the devastating earthquake of August in the country, amid ongoing debate over the high remuneration of the posts tasked with administering these resources.
"I have just accepted the resignation of the director of the Milagro Fund, just as I requested, because it was the right thing to do. And in this government we do the right thing, even if we have to make difficult decisions," De la Espriella said in social media.
According to a document revealed in response to a request for information and circulated by Caracol Radio, the monthly cost of the staff of 26 employees of the Milagro Fund was around 210,000 euros. In that context, Uribe’s salary exceeded that of a minister in the Colombian executive branch.
De la Espriella, who previously had already warned that those payments clashed with his "austerity directive," has emphasized that "when mistakes are made, they are acknowledged and corrected immediately."
"Here no one has the position secured. All officials are under permanent evaluation and must act with absolute consistency in response to the guidelines that I give," the head of state added, who has advanced that he will reveal the name of Uribe’s replacement "in the coming hours".