Santa Marta: District Comptroller denounces death threats - Other Cities - Colombia

The district comptroller of Santa Marta, Chadan Rosado Taylormade known his concern about some intimidating text messages that he has been receiving on his private cell phone number.

(Also read: Controversy over the indigenous proposal to relocate statues in Santa Marta)

The representative of the control entity assures that these threats, in which they warn him that they will attempt against his life, do not have a clear issuer, but they coincide with some findings that he has made known in recent days, as a result of investigations carried out against the Public services company.

After ratifying an alleged detriment of Essmar worth 41,000 million pesos, I have been receiving threatening messages

“After ratifying an alleged detriment of Essmar worth 41,000 million pesos, I have been receiving threatening messages that continue to be disturbing for me and my family,” Rosado said.

The comptroller said that this risk situation was already reported to the authorities so that the origin can be established and immediate protection measures can be established.

“I cannot point to any at this time, but I am going to file a complaint against an undetermined subject, hoping that my safety and that of my family will be guaranteed,” Chadán Rosado noted.

(You may be interested in: “There are going to be internal repercussions”: Union DT for fighting with fans)

The Call to Mayor Virna Johnson

Likewise, the representative of the Comptroller indicated that in Santa Marta it has become a bad practice to receive insults and threats every time a control body pronounces on some irregularity.

He also called on Mayor Virna Johnson not to get involved in the case of alleged findings against Essmar.

The foregoing, taking into account that it is the responsibility of the managers linked to the investigations to exercise their defense and with technical evidence demonstrate that there was no kind of detriment to public resources during their management at the head of Essmar.

Roger Urieles
For THE WEATHER Santa Marta
@rogeruv

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Hong Kong Working-Class District Reels as COVID Runs Rampant

HONG KONG — 

Lam Foon, 98, sits propped up and swaddled in soggy woolen blankets in a hospital bed just outside the entrance to Hong Kong’s Caritas Medical Centre, waiting for tests to confirm her preliminary positive result for COVID-19.

“I don’t feel so good,” she told Reuters through a surgical mask, next to a similarly wrapped patient wearing a mask and face shield.

Lam was one of dozens of patients lying in the parking lot of Caritas on Thursday, after there was no more room inside the hospital that serves 400,000 people in the working-class district of Cheung Sha Wan on the Kowloon peninsula.

Temperatures dipped to 15 degrees Celsius amid some rain.

Medical staff were unable to say how long Lam would have to wait. People who test preliminarily positive for COVID have to take further tests before treatment.

This and similar scenes across the global financial hub are signs of a public healthcare system under severe strain as COVID-19 cases surge, with more than 95% of all hospital beds full.

Once largely insulated from the coronavirus pandemic, Hong Kong is facing a citywide outbreak, with businesses buckling and some losing patience with the government’s “zero COVID” policies.

In the cluster of working-class districts in nearby Sham Shui Po, some residential blocks and public housing estates have been sealed off, crowds in malls and street markets have thinned, and once teeming diners known as dai pai dongs and stalls selling knickknacks are quieter after dark.

Trevor Chung, 29, a medic at Caritas, blamed the government in part for inadequate planning, a shortage of beds and other medical equipment, and chronic manpower shortages.

“The government underestimated the situation,” said Chung, clad in a full-face visor and blue hazmat suit. “I expect things to get a lot worse … There are many elderly people in this district, and many aren’t vaccinated.”

Hong Kong authorities on Thursday apologized for the dire situation at hospitals serving the city of 7.4 million.

The city’s zero-COVID policy has meant even asymptomatic people and those with mild conditions have been sent to hospitals or quarantine centers, although the government is now adjusting its strategy as the health care system is overwhelmed.

Lam under pressure

The outbreak has piled further pressure on Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, whose five-year term is due to end in June.

While Lam says surrendering to the virus “is not an option” and Chinese President Xi Jinping has said the “overriding mission” for Hong Kong is to rein in the virus, some are skeptical.

“You can see I’m wearing two masks. I need to protect myself because the government won’t protect me,” said Lo Kai-wai, a 59-year-old logistics worker queuing at a mobile testing center that had already reached its daily quota of 3,000 people.

“I don’t want to see her (Lam) get a second term.”

Some business owners impacted by government-imposed restrictions also question the sustainability of current policies.

“The government needs to find a better balance to both control the virus, but also to allow people to better get on with their lives,” said Timothy Poon, 23, the manager of a café close to the hospital, whose business has dropped by up to 60% amid the outbreak.

“The zero-COVID policy is a mission impossible.”

Others, however, are more upbeat.

“If everyone is willing to get vaccinated, the situation will improve,” said Lung Mei-chu, 78, at a testing center in another district.