How Atlántico cut poverty in half in two years: Governor Eduardo Verano reports 405 projects worth $3.2 trillion

Atlántico says it has cut multidimensional poverty from 21.1% to 8.2% while directing 3.2 trillion pesos into 405 public works. Governor Eduardo Verano presented the figures during a public accountability hearing covering the department’s development plan, “Atlántico para el Mundo.”

The department reported that 80.37% of the plan had been fulfilled by the end of 2025. During the first two years of the administration, implementation reached 50.31%, covering 551 targets, 430 products and 121 results across 20 areas and four strategic priorities.

Road infrastructure accounts for a large share of the program. The plan includes 29 road-corridor and divided-highway projects valued at 793.378 billion pesos, as well as a separate 813 billion-peso road program with five completed projects, 18 construction fronts and 18 roads still being designed. Between 2025 and 2026, the department worked on 115 kilometers of roads with an investment of 320 billion pesos. A road-maintenance program renewed another 470 kilometers for 101.656 billion pesos.

Verano highlighted the Circunvalar Sur de Baranoa, delivered in July 2025, along with the Atlántico International and Logistics corridors. Those projects are intended to improve connections between industrial areas and the department’s main transport routes. Water and sanitation projects include 48 initiatives worth 634.327 billion pesos and a 707 billion-peso departmental water plan. Eight projects have been completed and 25 remain under construction, with a focus on rural areas and townships. The Regional Northern Aqueduct, valued at 221.416 billion pesos, is designed to improve service for 1.6 million people in eight territories, with a capacity of 1,100 liters per second.