During his speech for the 488th anniversary of the Peruvian capitalMayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga reported the decision of Metropolitan Council regarding the toll contract assigned to the Rutas de Lima consortium: cancel early. Although the agreed period was 30 years and it only began in 2013 —that is, it should be extended until 2043—, the councilor’s management opted for a unilateral termination under the argument of “affecting the public interest”. What is it about?
What faults does the affectation of the public interest involve?
The Private Investment Promotion Management (GPIP) has listed the breaches of the contract: las high toll rates; discomfort to families that, in the Chillón toll, they use between 9% and 15% of their monthly income; contractual deficiencies; request to slow down (on the Panamericana Norte the transit time went from 20 km/h to 17 km/h); the poor service (there are 14,759 observations regarding the 2020-2022 service) and the omission of opinion MEF and CGR (General Comptroller of the Republic).
Does the declaration of cancellation of tolls mean that citizens will stop paying them?
The Republic consulted Peter Yanezeconomist from the National University of San Marcos (UNMSM), if this measure entails an interruption in the payment of tolls: “Not. What this implies in practical terms is that the toll operator will no longer be Odebrecht. (…) But the current legal framework prevents that payment from being suspended from one moment to the next because it has the status of contract law, expressly protected by the Constitution”.
“It could be that the municipality establishes that the payment be cut, but it is subject to a judicial sanction, that they go to arbitration and that the Power of attorney establish the illegality of cutting the collection ”, adds the also specialist in public management.
A press release by Rutas de Lima reinforces this response: “We regret that the MML has not complied with specifying to public opinion that the effects of its unilateral decision to terminate the concession contract early would only take effect after a period of no less than 180 calendar days has elapsed since the formal notification thereof.”
In other words, the collection of tolls —Panamericana Norte (de Chillón) and Sur (de Villa)— continues.
What is the position of Rutas de Lima before the decision of the MML?
In addition to regretting the decision and pointing out in the same letter that the MML “lacks any legal, contractual and/or foundation basis”, Lima routes explains that the ruling will generate unfavorable consequences for the City of Kings: use public resources to meet the payment of compensation and compensation that appear in the concession contract. How much money is? 1,450,808,000 soles for permitted guaranteed debt.
The data
In conversation with The Republic, Carlos Angeles, former mayor of Metropolitan Lima, argued that the Council session took into account a report prepared in the previous administration, that of Jorge Muñoz. “Why am I speaking conditionally? Having been a councilor for this management, this report from the TP Invest consultancy was never sent to me”. “It is the central element that has allowed the Council to take the lead yesterday to be able to resolve the contracts,” he concluded.