The Ministry of Public Finance began this week the evaluation of the damage caused by “Julia” with the World Bank’s Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Mechanism (CCRIF), which includes measurements of the rainfall that affected the country.
The insurance is activated once the parameters established by the CCRIF, which are scientific and technical criteria, have been reached, explained Edwin Martínez Cameros, Minister of Finance. Depending on them, in a period of eight to 15 days it will be known if the policy is activated and the delivery of the financial resources.
“If the amount of water is exceeded by the rains, the policy is automatically activated for around Q50 million,” the minister remarked.
The resources raised by the CCRIF would be directed to the recovery of the road network, damaged by the climatic phenomenon, and the repair of bridges and highways, but the disbursement would be subject to the fulfillment of various requirements.
The insurance was already activated for Guatemala in the winter of 2020, when the rains at that time exceeded the established parameters and CCRIF made the disbursements.
Natural disasters and their impacts are already considered as fiscal risks, in the sense that a good part of the public budget is being allocated to the recovery and rehabilitation of the damage caused.
Meanwhile, the process of quantifying the damage caused by the aforementioned phenomenon began, which corresponds to the Secretariat of Planning and Programming of the Presidency (Segeplan), and for which it uses a methodology adapted by the Economic Commission for Latin America ( ECLAC).
This calculation is made with the inclusion of the social, economic and political axes, and indicators such as the affected population, water and sanitation, housing, health, commerce, infrastructure, agricultural sector, industry, tourism and transportation, among others, are measured.
Damage to coffee crops
On the other hand, the Federation of Guatemalan Coffee Cooperatives (Fedecocagua) reported that the rains of October 19 and 20 in Huehuetenango caused damage to several coffee-producing farms and the preliminary count indicates that there is partial and total damage to the crops.
Until yesterday, what was quantified were 115 cuerdas of crops, whose loss is Q1.5 million, as well as five blocks with total damage to the plantations. Several tertiary roads that connect to the grain-producing farms also continue to be obstructed, according to the report.