Colombia’s audit flags $67 trillion in stalled public works across 1,970 projects

The Colombian Comptroller General released a report identifying 1,970 public‑works projects classified as “elefantes blancos” (white elephants). Together they represent about 67.07 trillion Colombian pesos of funds that remain unspent or unfinished.

The "Salvando Obras" strategy has managed to reactivate 536 projects worth roughly 9.22 trillion pesos and to bring another 242 projects launched under previous administrations into operation. However, 1,029 projects, amounting to 54.17 trillion pesos, stay unresolved, and 134 initiatives were deemed unrecoverable due to technical, legal and administrative difficulties.

The audit points to recurring problems such as poor planning, design errors, contract modifications, contractor defaults and financing issues. Notable stalled works include the new campus of the University of Atlántico in Soledad (Atlántico) and the Multicampus Universitario de Suba in Bogotá, both intended for higher‑education expansion, as well as partial restorations of Hospital San Juan de Dios and Hospital Albert Schweitzer, which lack functional facilities despite sizable advance payments. The report warns that these delays will persist into the next government’s term unless corrective measures are taken.