The Congress of the Republic of Guatemala has on the table various proposals for discussion and eventual approval in which the institutional future of the country is at stake. Some of them, stalled in the parliamentary discussions, wait their turn to be known and debated in the plenary of deputies. Perhaps the most interesting of these is Initiative 5431, the General Vial Infrastructure Law, which proposes a series of profound reforms to the way Guatemala structures and builds its road network.
The Foundation for the Development of Guatemala (FUNDESA), main promoter of the Initiative, states that today the Guatemalan road network is deficient, and that -among other measures- in Guatemala there is approximately 1 meter of road network per inhabitant. In addition, in Guatemala only 12% of the Gross Domestic Product is invested in Road Infrastructure. The lack of roads that the country suffers from is an enormous barrier to an economy of enormous agricultural production, since it makes it difficult to move products for trade. On the other hand, particular mobilization tends to be complicated precisely by the lack of sufficient roads to allow circulation, especially to rural areas of the country.
Therefore, the General Law of Road Infrastructure would be a turning point: it proposes the creation of an institution attached to the Ministry of Communication, Infrastructure and Housing (MINCIVI), called Superintendence of Road Infrastructure (SIVIAL), which would replace the current Executive Unit of Road Conservation (COVIAL). It would have the technical, administrative and financial independence to structure, plan and execute the necessary development of the road network in a more orderly manner. The institution should execute construction and conservation projects, plan with municipalities the development at the local level and even the authorization of the use of the subsoil for these purposes.
Another of the important changes of the Law Initiative is the elimination of the Geographic List of Works, a tool for the construction of projects that today is used with impunity to favor personal interests of deputies and high-ranking officials. In order to generate a structural arrangement with sufficient information for development, the Initiative demands the creation of a National Road Infrastructure Plan, with a 30-year projection and competence of SIVIAL.
As if that were not enough, it creates a new modality of public contracting: the Contracts for Availability, in which the State will have the obligation to pay for the project until it is completed, streamlining the budgetary capacity of the agencies involved.
To be approved, the Initiative needs 80 votes, which could be reached after discussion. The current electoral process has stopped the parliamentary sessions, but the Initiative has already been discussed in first reading after receiving a favorable opinion from the Economy Commission, but there are still two more readings for the deputies to be able to vote for the law.
Senior Associate
García & Bodán
Guatemala