In the budget extension approved last Tuesday in Congress, the funds managed by the Departmental Councils for Urban and Rural Development were increased. In total, they will be granted Q4,113 million, including ordinary and extraordinary funds and a specific article for development projects.
Compared to the initiative presented by the Executive in May of this year, the amounts increased by Q400 million. Now the challenge is for the Councils to execute such funds and overcome the delays that have been evident in recent months. Mayors, Council members and analysts recognize that the greatest challenge is the time to obtain the endorsements, signatures of agreements and the execution of these.
As part of the ordinary contribution, Q481 million were approved and an extraordinary allocation of Q1,756 million. In addition, in article 13 – Decree 16-2024 – more funds are granted to the Codedes to be executed in education, health, water, sanitation, drainage, road infrastructure and rural roads projects. In this area, Q1,875 million were allocated and redistributed among the 340 municipalities.
Several actors criticized the lack of technical criteria for the distribution, this time is no exception as Lindsey Tilit, member of the National Council for Urban and Rural Development (Conadur) questioned the allocation because she said it could respond to political negotiations with which the votes were agreed to achieve the expansion because the members of the Codedes were not consulted to address the needs or priorities in the departments.
“There are no criteria and no mechanisms to prevent projects from being overpriced by municipalities, so it could be a mess. In my opinion, that was the negotiating element for the approval of the budget increase,” said Titlit.
The president of the National Association of Municipalities (ANAM), Sebastián Siero, regarding the funds of the Councils, limited himself to mentioning that they have no pronouncement on said distribution because it responds to discretionary criteria rather than technical ones.
Article 13 received an amendment with which more funds were approved than those requested by the central administration. The departments that will receive the most resources are Retalhuleu and Huehuetenango, a proposal that was presented by deputies from the Vamos, Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE), Cabal, Visión con Valores (Viva) and those elected by Semilla parties.
This article allows projects to be used only for certain fonts, which are the same as those specified in the projects under the previous government’s initiative known as the Great National Crusade for Nutrition, in which ordinary funds for that category were already distributed in all municipalities in the first Conadur of this year.
Obstacles
Titlit acknowledges that part of the challenges in the implementation are the timing, since the extension was approved in the last four months of the year, in addition to the mechanisms that will be implemented by the central government to ensure that the funds are used in projects that are needed and that are not overvalued.
“There are also no mechanisms to prevent projects from being overpriced by municipalities. So it can be a breeding ground for corruption, the corruption that has been talked about so much and proposed so much,” he criticized.
Local government expert Edy Cifuentes expressed a similar opinion, stating that it is crucial for the Executive to observe and apply mechanisms to prevent funds from being allocated to projects that deviate from the criteria of assessment, strategy and public interest in an attempt to allocate them before the end of the year.
“The huge risk is that the implementation cannot really be observed based on the nature and needs of the population, but rather projects are carried out out of the blue and there could be a serious problem of quality of spending and incursion into corruption,” he warned.
He added that the new mayors also have a challenge in the execution of this increase in funds given the low execution in these first months. According to the Disbursement and Transfer Control portal (Codet), it shows an execution of ten percent of the ordinary funds to the Codedes.
In order to be implemented, projects must be endorsed by central government bodies and an agreement must be signed between the Councils and the municipalities.
Cifuentes pointed out that the Executive Coordination Secretariat (SCEP) is key in this process to energize and accompany local governments in investment processes. Tilit also emphasized the importance of the Planning and Programming Secretariat of the Presidency (Segeplan) for the approval of works.
The member also commented that on August 23, the Conadur finance commission was summoned with the authorities of the Treasury portfolio, to inform them of the technical criteria for the distribution. They also hope that the procedures for the presentation and planning of the new projects will be further elaborated.
On the part of Segeplan, SCEP and the Ministry of Finance, they are in the process of defining the appropriate procedures with which these funds should be executed. Another challenge that will contribute to the deadlines is the “divorce” that, according to Siero and Tilit, exists between the directors of the Codedes and the departmental governors, who have shown slow work in streamlining the processes.
Situated constitutionally
The president of Anam did refer to the increase in the constitutional allocation that grants Q1,676 million more to the municipalities, with which, in accordance with what is established in the legal regulations, the corresponding amount will be assigned to each municipal leadership.
The municipalities that receive the most are Guatemala, Mixco and Villa Nueva. While those that receive the least are Pueblo Nuevo Viñas, San Gaspar Ixil and San Pablo la Laguna.
“What we are in favor of and very happy with is the increase in the constitutional contribution. That is a benefit that all municipalities receive as a priority,” said Siero.
Relationship with mayors
Last week, mayors of Conadur and the president of Anam confirmed that there is discontent with the authorities of the ministries due to the lack of communication channels. According to Siero, the extension will not modify this relationship because he assures that the dissatisfaction arises from the lack of openness of some heads of the ministries.
However, Cifuentes believes that the new amounts will improve relations with the municipal leaders, who now have more opportunities to propose projects in their municipalities and fulfill campaign promises.
“Needs continue to exist, communities continue to request projects from municipalities to truly meet their needs,” he said.
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