“It’s not that the government doesn’t care about the issue of water; if it does, it cares that oligarchic companies continue doing the water business.” 2024-03-26 02:43:36

This Friday in the Meeting program with Julio Villagrán, Carlos Flores, founding member of the El Salvador Water Forum, mentioned that the General Law of Water Resources lacks fundamental things such as citizen participation in the accounts committee, he also expressed that this same law applies equally to both communities and companies, which generates inequality because both sectors do not have the same conditions.

“When a procedure is applied equally to unequals, it is being unequal in favor of the powerful,” Carlos Flores mentioned.

An example of this is Valle del Angel, where the interests of the Dueñas family prevailed over the interests of the surrounding communities, where the government decided to go beyond the people, laws and institutions, to grant permits to build in that sector.

“In Valle del Ángel, after a struggle and a national discussion where all the living forces of the country agreed that we had to listen and rethink the destiny that had been decided for that territory, the interests of the Dueñas family were more important than all. people”, Flores declared.

He also highlighted that the government only cares about the issue of water for the use of companies, for example, bottling companies have access to the best water, however for the population it does nothing, a clear example is the lack of actions against pollution. of the Las Cañas, Acelhuate and Lempa rivers, where San Salvador deposits all its wastewater in them, added to this is the inability of the municipalities to generate a positive impact on the issue of drinking water for its inhabitants.

“The reduction in the municipality’s capacity to invest has meant that investments that are fundamental expenses such as solid waste management are relegated, this impacts the quality of water and people’s quality of life.” mentioned

Furthermore, Flores highlighted that there are places where 11% of the Salvadoran population does not receive drinking water, which means a setback in the supply of the vital liquid, which is why the existence of water boards in rural areas is due to this.

“A water board is a communal organization, rural communities organize to manage a project to supply water and administer it because ANDA does not reach rural communities.”