On Tuesday, President Gustavo Petro embarked on a marathon journey in Santander. Coming from La Loma, Cesar, he arrived at Palonegro Airport in Lebrija where a helicopter was waiting to transport him to Málaga, where he arrived after 6:00 in the evening.
However, despite his arrival in the provincial capital, the president was supposed to travel to the Hospital Regional García Rovira, where the National Government recently invested 60 billion pesos, but setbacks prevented this.
He arrived directly at the auditorio Fundadores of the Universidad Industrial de Santander, UIS Málaga campus. His tight schedule did not allow him to lay the foundation stone for what will be the University Park; however, during his speech, he announced the start of construction and the injection of national resources.
“We must open opportunities for young people, that’s why we must guarantee free education. It’s more expensive to build prisons than to build universities, that’s why we must invest in education. Minister, the funds are enough to cover the complete investment for the new UIS Málaga campus. We are committed to ensuring that the Provincia García Rovira has a quality university for its youth,” the president stated.
In response to this announcement, Deicy Delgado, coordinator of the UIS Málaga campus, expressed that “investing in education is seeking regional development. The challenge with the new campus is to expand our academic offerings for postgraduate programs, to increase our capacity from 750 students to 1100. Government-academia partnerships are crucial for achieving significant progress. We thank President Gustavo Petro for believing in UIS.”
It is worth noting that this project represents a budgetary commitment of around 70 billion pesos, which will ultimately enable UIS to continue providing high-quality public higher education.
With this investment, it is expected that more young people from the Province of García Rovira in Santander, Norte and Gutiérrez in Boyacá, and Pamplona in Norte de Santander, will be able to access high-level university education, thus promoting educational and economic growth in Santander.
The campus, which will encompass approximately 13,500 square meters of construction and 3,000 square meters of landscaping, is poised to be a state-of-the-art education center with a variety of facilities designed to address educational and professional needs in this northeastern region of Colombia. Among the notable features of this new campus is an auditorium with a capacity for 400 people, which will promote the hosting of large cultural and academic events in the region.”
“This is how the construction of the new UIS campus in Málaga represents a significant milestone in the journey towards a more inclusive and future-oriented educational system in Colombia. With this initiative, the Government demonstrates its commitment to education as a tool for transforming realities and generating opportunities for all citizens.
In Málaga, he was also awaited by representatives of páramos who would bring up the topic of restricting agricultural activities in high mountain areas, among others.
Once his visit to the regional UIS campus is over, the president will board the aircraft again bound for Palonegro Airport where a helicopter awaits to transport him to the facilities of the Fifth Brigade in Bucaramanga, after 9:00 in the evening.
From there, the presidential caravan will head to the main UIS campus. In the auditorio Luis A. Calvo , nearly a thousand people await him to listen to interventions from various socio-economic sectors.”
