President Bernardo Arévalo and the Council of Ministers issued Decree 2-2024, which was published on July 8 in the Diario de Centro América, establishing a state of Public Calamity throughout the Republic.
According to the decree, the measure is taken due to the high rate of rainfall accumulation and current soil saturation in the national territory.
The measure will be applied for 30 days from the effective date of the Decree, during which time “the full validity of the constitutional rights recognized in articles 5 and 26 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala may be limited throughout the national territory.”
The measures established in the decree include limitations on the right to free movement and circulation of vehicles in affected areas. While Congress approves the state of calamity, the Ministry of Public Finance (Minfin) defined eight transparency and accountability measures for the execution of resources.
The first measure of the Minfin highlights that “within one month from the date on which the validity of Government Decree Number 2-2024 ceased, the entities referred to in Article 6 must publish on their public information portals, ex officio, a detailed and comprehensive report of the actions taken under the aforementioned decree.”
The second one that “The Ministry of Public Finance will provide a control panel on its institutional portal to monitor acquisitions made under this Government Decree.
A third provision of the Minfin instructs that “The institutions responsible for actions aimed at addressing the State of Public Calamity must make the corresponding budgetary modifications, observing the provisions of Article 32 of Decree Number 101-97 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, Organic Budget Law.”
“Likewise, the approval of budget modifications does not imply authorization of expenditure, therefore, the highest institutional authorities will be the authorizers of expenditures regarding their respective budget, based on Articles 29 and 29 Bis of Decree Number 101-97 cited.”
The fourth provision orders, “Based on the second paragraph of Article 9 of Government Agreement Number 1-2024 Analytical Distribution of the General Budget of Income and Expenditures of the State for the Fiscal Year 2024 and with the purpose of streamlining the relevant budgetary processes due to the declaration of the State of Public Calamity, the Technical Budget Directorate of the Ministry of Public Finance, will create ex officio in the Integrated Accounting System (Sicoin), the following programmatic and production categories:
- Program 94 “Attention to Natural Disasters and Public Calamities”
- Subprogram 16 “State of Public Calamity to address damages and effects caused by the high level of rainfall and current saturation of soils in the national territory”
- Activity 001 “Interventions carried out to address damages and effects caused by the high rainfall rate and current soil saturation in the national territory (DG 2-2024)”
- Product and by-product will be named according to the specific intervention defined by the entity (DG 2-2024)”.
CONTENT FOR SUBSCRIBERS
If, due to the nature of the goods and services to be delivered, the creation of another programmatic structure within Program 94 and Subprogram 16 is required, the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 9 of Government Agreement Number 1-2024, Analytical Distribution of the General Budget of Income and Expenditures of the State for Fiscal Year 2024, must be followed.
“It is the responsibility of each institution to associate the by-products created with the cost centers they consider relevant. Likewise, it is important to mention that said programmatic structure must be used for the execution of expenses for the interventions carried out to address damages caused by the high level of rainfall and soil saturation and is not subject to the validity of the State of Public Calamity,” states the text published in the Official Gazette.
A fifth measure establishes: “In the case of the works referred to in Article 6, it is up to the Secretariat of Planning and Programming of the Presidency (Segeplan) to issue the respective regulations.”
The sixth provision It establishes that “the Technical Budget Directorate of the Ministry of Public Finance will provide the necessary technical assistance for the creation of the budgetary structures that are required by the institutions in accordance with the guidelines established herein.”
The seventh points out: “in accordance with the principle of fiscal responsibility, the expenditures, acquisitions and contracts that the highest institutional authorities make and/or authorize under the State of Public Calamity, must be fully justified and duly documented according to the interventions executed, in order to guarantee that they are indispensable and that they are adapted to the attention of the needs of the emergency.”
And the eighth defines that “For the registration of donations under Government Decree Number 2-2024, the guidelines provided by the Public Credit Directorate of the Ministry of Public Finance must be observed.”
The CIV defines the following:
The Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV), on its social media, published how it will act during the state of public calamity, if Congress approves it.
“The CIV is committed to carrying out with total transparency and accountability every cent invested in the recovery of the road network,” they wrote.
They added that “in these emergencies we are working once morest the clock, we do not have adequate machinery. In view of this, we need to work under a State of Emergency to provide an immediate response.”
#CIVStateOfCalamity⚒🚧🚜👷♀👷♂🛣
He #StateOfCalamity allows us to act quickly and effectively to mitigate damage and protect communities.#RescueGuatemala🇬🇹 pic.twitter.com/OzFoJYv3Gp
— Ministry of Communications (@CIV_Guatemala) July 8, 2024
According to the ministry, they will acquire “equipment that is available and can be delivered immediately, that meets the technical requirements and that includes maintenance of the machinery.”
They assured that “all purchases will be made through an open public tender and the report will be sent to the Executive, Legislative and Comptroller General of Accounts.”
What will they prioritize?
The Ministry of Communications offers the following measures during the state of public calamity declared by President Bernardo Arévalo and the Council of Ministers.
- According to the CIV, as a primary measure, they will prioritize “attention to the Palín-Escuintla highway, and thus restore its transitability.”
- They also say they will focus on purchasing emergency bridges for installation at critical points.
- “We will be leasing heavy machinery and acquiring equipment to enhance our emergency response capacity. We will be procuring modular buildings to assist the population affected by damage to health and education facilities across the country,” the CIV added in a statement.
- In the case of the CA-9 Sur A route (Palín-Escuintla), whose administrative problems prevent direct intervention by the State, the CIV assures that it will be subject to article 95 of the Contracting Law, which “allows them to intervene in concessioned assets due to force majeure.”
- “To ensure legality and transparency, we will carry out emergency tenders through Guatecompras, the official platform for publishing tenders and awarding State contracts. We will use CIV budget lines readjusted for this purpose, without resorting to emergency funds, unless the Congress of the Republic so decides.”
- The CIV assures that, even in the case of a State of Calamity, they will use “boards of
qualification for contracts, following good practices within the framework of the law, to carry out all awards in an open and transparent manner.” - The CIV points out that it will prepare a “progress report halfway through the state of calamity period” and will send it to the Presidency and the Comptroller General.”
- They also promise to “publish it through official channels and also present a detailed final report with the results obtained.”
- “Our goal is to ensure that every quetzal invested during this period of crisis is used efficiently and transparently,” they conclude.
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