The budget increase approved last Tuesday, August 27, again included extraordinary funds for the Departmental Development Councils (Codedes). This contribution has been questioned since the first initiative for an increase was presented in the Legislature, because the distribution was not based on technical criteria.
A total of Q1,881 million was approved as extraordinary contributions for projects in education, health, water, sanitation, drainage, road infrastructure and rural roads. These will be executed by the Codedes in each department and municipality. The Decree establishes that the works may be contracted exceeding the fiscal period in force since the planning, and that the amounts assigned to each municipality cannot be reordered.
Compared to the previous expansion, which was put on hold by a resolution of the Constitutional Court, this time Q6 million more was granted, in addition to the redistributions between municipalities and departments that were carried out.
At the departmental level, Retalhuleu, Chiquimula and Sololá were the places that saw the most reductions. At the other extreme, Huehuetenango, Alta Verapaz and San Marcos were the places that saw the biggest increases.
However, criticism regarding the technical basis used for the distribution persists. The pro-government deputy, Román Castellanos, explained that the new approval corresponds to the agreements reached with the voting congressmen in the plenary session on Tuesday night.
“Basically, there are new agreements that revolve around this approval, and that is also a response to various changes that occurred throughout, at various points throughout the entire initiative,” Castellanos explained.
He also explained that the changes were due to the new agreements reached with the deputies who joined in this extension, which had not been done in the previous one.
There are 225 municipalities in which no modification was made to the amount and it remained the same as in the decree approved in mid-August. When this distribution was made, members of the National Council for Urban and Rural Development (Conadur) questioned whether the amounts were assigned in response to political interests.
Criticism also arose over the challenge of allocating funds to projects based on scheduling and planning times, as well as the procedures to be implemented to ensure that they are used on projects that the territories need and that are not overpriced.
By municipality
The five municipalities that had the greatest reduction compared to the adjustment suspended by the Constitutional Court were Ipala, Chiquimula; San Pedro Jocopilas, Quiché; the capital of San Marcos; Santa María Ixhuatán, Santa Rosa and Gualán in Zacapa.
Regarding Ipala, the decrease was Q19 million. On the subject, the deputy of Cambio, Esduin Javier, native and former mayor of the municipality, pointed out that it was a measure taken by the ruling party because it did not support the first expansion.
“They wanted me to support them, but my dignity is priceless. The reduction is like a punishment. The municipality has to realize that there are interests at work in Congress that I will not support,” Javier commented.
On the other hand, the municipalities with the highest increase are Morales, Izabal; Champerico, Retalhuleu; Catarina, San Marcos; San José El Rodeo, San Marcos; and La Blanca, San Marcos.
Edilma Navarijo, mayor of La Blanca, said that the increase received is due to the work of her and the district deputy Vivian Preciado Navarijo, her daughter, who are working for the development of the region.
“It is a blessing for the municipality that I manage. It is a young municipality that, through the lady congresswoman and myself, we have led to development,” he said.
The mayor of Catarina, Luis Mendoza, welcomed the fact that the municipality will benefit from the funds, but he said that they are waiting to see what happens until it is approved and published in the Official Gazette.
Discontent
The president of the National Association of Municipalities (ANAM), Sebastian Siero, maintains the criticisms he made regarding the first expansion, pointing out that the distribution does not have a technical basis.
“The difference between the previous expansion and this one is that there are 54 mayors who are very upset, because in the first version they had Q500 thousand and with that, at least they were able to do a small project, like paving a street; but they lowered it to Q120 thousand, so now they don’t do anything,” said the mayor.
He added that around 200 mayors are in agreement with the approval, due to the increases they received, but another 140 are not satisfied with the reduction in funding for their respective municipalities.
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