Last Wednesday, the Congress approved an urgent national budget increase of Q14,451 million. Before concluding the process and giving it a decree number, deputies Jorge Castro, from the Visión con Valores group; Luis Aguirre, from the Cabal block, and Román Castellanos, elected by the Movimiento Semilla, presented an “amendment” to incorporate a new article to the regulations.
The proposal was to repeal Article 7 of the Law to strengthen the maintenance and construction of strategic infrastructure, decree 21-2022. That article authorized the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV) a budget increase of Q3,191,242,000 for 112 road infrastructure projects that would be executed that year by the different units of the portfolio.
The total project intervention was for 719.14 kilometers, including rehabilitation, minor resurfacing, construction, signage, purchase of Bailey bridges, buildings and construction of the Belize Bridge.
The elimination of the article, which was agreed upon between the deputies who voted in favor and the CIV, lifts a restriction of the decree that did not allow the works to be modified. On March 15, 2022, when the law was approved, the then Semilla bench was one of the main critics, arguing that the approved norm could have corrupt purposes.
Complaint
In May of this year, the Comptroller General’s Office (CGC) filed a complaint against former minister Javier Maldonado and seven other officials, including directors and vice-ministers, for having made commitments not supported by the decree. The amount of the complaint amounts to Q6.96 billion and is under investigation by the Public Ministry (MP).
When that law was approved, doubts and criticism arose, because it granted more than Q3,191 million to the CIV for works. Now, the government maintains that the amendment was presented because said projects could not be advanced or completed.
“What happened is that the CIV itself found that this article made it difficult for them to continue with some infrastructure projects that are about to be completed, but they ran into it there. It was a particular request from the ministry,” said Castellanos, who in 2022 was one of the main opponents.
The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Alejandro García, assured that beyond being a request that arose in the institution, it was an aspect agreed upon between the portfolio and the deputies, who constantly make inquiries about the projects of their departments.
“More than an express request from the ministry, it is a response to the constant requests from deputies in different groups and from all districts,” he said.
The CIV justified that, by lifting the restrictions of this legal regulation, they will continue with the execution and complete the pending payments.
“—The repeal—does open the door for them to continue being implemented, even though they are under investigation. We will carry out the analysis when the decree is published,” said the vice minister.
For his part, Deputy Orlando Blanco, from the Voluntad, Oportunidad y Solidaridad (Vos) party, questioned this aspect, on the grounds that the law is not retroactive in administrative or financial matters.
“According to them, this would give them the backing to pay for all the corruption that occurred within the framework of that decree; but also to pay for the excesses that occurred in the matter of executions,” said the legislator.
Under investigation
The deputy minister explained that many of the projects are being investigated by the MP and that they have been told that they are under confidentiality, so they have not been informed of the scope of the investigation. Deputy Orlando Blanco mentioned that they also filed a complaint in this regard this year.
García asserted that the repeal of the article should not influence the investigations carried out by the MP, nor the procedures of the CGC. Castellanos also defended that the repeal was requested based on technical criteria of the CIV.
“I would hope not, because if they are already accomplished facts, in any case they continue to prevail and I am sure that in the future this type of irregularities will not be committed,” said the congressman.
Blanco insisted that it is an attempt by the ruling party to “circumvent the law.”
The MP was asked about the investigation, but no response was received. The CGC was also asked for its position on the repeal, but it did not respond either.
Exceeded the ceiling
When the law was approved, Q1,286 million was allocated to the General Directorate of Roads (DGC), Q1,748 million to Covial, Q120 million to the State Building Construction Unit (UCEE) and Q35 million to the Social Solidarity Fund (FSS).
Only one year and five months later, Covial had already consumed all the funds and Caminos had exceeded the allocation by Q80 million. In addition, adjustments were made that left the subprogram’s budget at Q1,746 million in 2023 alone.
The funds were invested in Q1.9 billion in the maintenance of Central American highways, another Q366 million in national routes and Q480 million in departmental routes. Funds were also allocated for technical assistance and the acquisition of bridges, for the construction and improvement of highways, as well as for overpasses and educational infrastructure.
Maldonado, the head of the portfolio at the time, stated that the deputies who drafted the law selected the works that would be included in the initiative and forwarded it to the CIV.
Approval
In the year in which the Law was approved, Shirley Rivera was the president of Congress. She, along with Mynor Mejía and Carlos Roberto Calderón, signed it. It became law 15 days after being presented as an initiative to the Legislative Directorate.
At that time, Deputy Castellanos was one of the main opponents of the law because he considered that “it is a strategy to plunder the State.”
“At that time, the deputies of Semilla and our deputies opposed this issue because we had never seen such a crude and cynical decree, in the sense that in that decree, the deputies of the National Union of Hope (UNE), Valor, Vamos, Todos and Bien were basically making an allocation of millions outside the budget,” he recalled.
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