May 1, 2023 marked a before and after regarding the traffic that circulates on the Palín-Escuintla Highway after the elimination of toll payments. A team of Free Press visited this highway 10 months since the barriers were lifted and the toll zone was removed to get a closer look at the conditions in which it is located.
During the 25 years of concession of the section to the Mexican firm Marhnosthe historical traffic average was 22 thousand vehicles per day and currently it is 32 thousand to 35 thousandamong which range from motorcycles to trucks that exceed the weight and dimension capacity.
The increase in vehicle traffic “brings an inertia that is difficult to manage because, at the end of the day, there is greater demand for safety,” warns Sandro Testelli, director of Marhnos Guatemala. According to the executive, The outlook worsens with the prospects for Holy Weeksince traffic could increase between 15% or 20%, that is, between 36,800 to 38,400 vehicles daily, which results in further deterioration of the Palín-Escuintla Highway. “If a maintenance, service or safety program is not carried out, there may be a negative reflection for the user himself,” adds Testelli.
Another of the notable deficiencies in the section was the scarcity of signage and the deterioration of the folder by more vehicles circulating without meeting the weight and dimension standards.
A new model?
The abandonment of sections such as Palín-Escuintla coincides with figures from the World Bank, which in a decade, investments in road infrastructure They have only represented on average 0.7% of GDP each yearwhen the level of investment required should be at least 1%to “close the gaps in construction, maintenance and replacement of road infrastructure.”
There is a bill 5431, General Road Infrastructure Lawwhich in the words of Jorge Benavidesan analyst at Fundesa, proposes a model with greater control over the management of public works projects, giving more responsibility to whoever is managing the work (not only to execute and design it, but also to provide maintenance) and assign resources to monitor the indicators.
Six years since the initiative was presented to the plenary session, there are “a series of modifications that have been discussed and agreed upon. What is missing is the will of the deputies“, from block heads to the plenary session to know the law in third reading and at the same speed that other legislations have been approved, to bet on legislation that will truly transform Guatemala,” says Benavides.
political thermometer
There are 17 legislative blocks that make up the X legislature and that they have in their hands schedule and approve initiative 5431. What is the perception of some groups about the future of this project?
The deputy consulted Samuel Perezdeclared independent and elected by the Semilla Movement, affirms that “it is favorable to change the contracting model for infrastructure works,” which is why he considers that “we must discuss what model we are going to follow and we have to see if the opinion that has the initiative in the latest version is the appropriate model.”
Making amendments on specific issues that await consensus could be another route. This initiative, which contains 11 chapters and 162 articles, “is quite ambitious, since it touches on many situations,” is how deputy Elmer Palencia, head of the Valor bench, defines it. “I believe that it must be focused and delimited, that this new model of State contracting for road infrastructure focuses mainly on the cross-cutting axes of the country’s infrastructureboth CA-9 and CA-1”.
Otherwise, Palencia identifies that “by leaving the initiative so broad and general, there will be a lot of controversy and discussion in Congress,” which is why he considers it necessary to leave this law out. inter-municipal connectivity work or tertiary routes, to direct attention to the country’s main roads. “Wanting to cover so much with the law (makes it difficult) to understand it and generates a lot of noise, causes some detractors to begin to circulate wrong messages and that stops the progress of the law.”
Rural roads were also mentioned by Ines Castillofrom the block of the National Unity of Hope (UNE), who considers that this law is not necessary. “They tried to schedule it, I opposed it.” What it proposes, instead of an initiative, is decentralization, that is, “giving the mayors all the local roads, that everything that Covial does should be done by the mayors in their municipal jurisdiction, and that the State is left to charge of the main roads.
From the Communications, Transportation and Public Works Commission of Congress, chaired by the deputy Jeovanni Dominguez, of Vision with Values (Viva) identifies that it is an initiative that requires “an exhaustive analysis because it is important to have a clear context, taking into account that many times laws are approved in Congress without having the context of what it is. “It already says who it will benefit.”
Juan Carlos Zapatacoordinator of the Infrastructure table Guatemala Doesn’t Stopsent a message to the deputies, stating that “the congressmen who support this initiative are representatives of the most remote communities that need more and better infrastructure, as well as representatives of the departments that are growing the most and that need roads in the best conditions. , everyone’s consensus is not needed, but of 81 brave deputies who want to transform the road model and have first-class road infrastructure, It is time to put mediocrity aside and put efficiency and transparency at the center of the discussion.”
Toll control and governing body
Before taking it to the third debate, Domínguez raises two important points to make possible amendments: the creation of the Superintendence of Road Infrastructure and the payment of tolls. “First, there is the risk in the issue of authority and responsibility that this initiative would generate, at some point the creation of a road superintendency is being proposed within the law, I believe that there the Ministry of Communications would lose authority.”
Regarding the toll, he warns that the Constitution frames free transportation, a point that must be evaluated so that the law is clear in regulating the tax. With these amendments considers that the law can be approved this yearbut “we also depend on the deputies of the Commission and the block leaders.”
Luis Aguirre, head of the Cabal bloc, agrees to have a discussion about the content and magnitude of the initiative. As mentioned by Domínguez, Aguirre identifies it as pertinent to evaluate the issue of tolls with respect to tariffs. and the impact they would have on the economy of Guatemalans. On the contrary, other deputies perceive the creation of the Superintendency of Road Infrastructure as positive.
According to the analysis carried out by the Cabal bloc, this superintendence will allow there to be “more control and efficiency to execute long-term projects.” But, at the same time, they consider that this new entity may leave a marginal role to the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing“which contravenes the provisions of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala and the Law of the Executive Branch.”
For Benavides, the objective of the superintendency is to give more transparency to the processas well as a national road infrastructure plan will have a projection of 30 years. “The basis of the law is that the planning of road infrastructure is carried out and the law is tied to the fact that if the governing entity, which is the Ministry of Communications, has a plan that must follow the law, it provides the executor with all the tools necessary for this planning to become a reality,” he points out.
Its vision is that the purpose of this initiative is to “increase the capacity of the State to execute investment with innovative tools from the point of view of financing contracts, participation of different sectors as investment partners the State’s supervisory capacitythe ability to impose sanctions, even the fact that there is competition between other companies to invest in infrastructure,” adds Benavides.
Other risks that the Cabal bench sees is that the destination of the funds obtained from the distribution tax is modified of crude oil and petroleum fuels; that a mechanism for review or supervision of the board of directors of the superintendency is not proposed – which they consider can cause “abuse of power and encourage corruption in the institutionality that is intended to be created, in addition to maintaining the overpricing and poor quality of public works.” ” – and that the administrative deadlines are modified, which may raise the question of unconstitutionality of the law.
Approval in 2024?
One of the challenges that Pérez identifies to promote this initiative and move it to the third debate are the “incentives related to corruption on the issue of infrastructure and there may be several deputies who, although they may be a minority in Congress, follow this type of incentives, then it will probably ruin the business of many people.
To achieve approval, in his opinion, “a broad political and social consensus must be promoted regarding the model that must be followed and there must be awareness that things really have to change in the country.” and no longer continue using infrastructure as an excuse to finance corrupt politicians.”
Regarding the legislative agenda, April could be the month in which initiative 5431 achieves the third debate in the plenary session, since “after Easter, when the population has traveled to the interior of the country and has realized how the roads are, they will realize,” Palencia mentions, the need for road infrastructure, which makes those subsequent weeks “ “The right moment to be able to discuss it.”
From the Cabal bloc, Aguirre agrees on the possibility of discussing the initiative after the Greater Week. “We hope that it will be discussed as soon as possible, as well as having the amendments and getting it moving. We have to achieve consensus with the benches so that we can correct the risks that are taken with amendments and see how we can work.”
Besides the Palin-Escuintla, Benavides warns that there are other sections in the country that require attention for maintenance. “In Guatemala there is a need for attention to road infrastructure, it is not only a problem of doing or not doing, but of the speed and magnitude that we are capable of executing investment.”
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