The mayor of Soyapango says that until the constitution is reformed, assigning the Fodes is an obligation of the president.
While the president of the republic remains in turmoil on resources corresponding to the mayors by law and when he threatens to veto the budget allocation granted to the municipalities by the legislature, several mayors expose a tight situation in their territory , which even threatens to paralyze operations and suspend projects on behalf of their places.
The mayor of Soyapango, Juan Pablo Álvarez, states that his municipality is in debt of $ 8 million due to the lack of the Fodes, and that since the payment of the fund is not completed within the budget, this would continue to affect municipalities projects and programs.
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“As long as the constitution is not changed, he (Bukele) is legally obliged. If he does (remove Fodes from the budget), chances are he will be processed at the end of his tenure. It seems that if he (works) doesn’t do it, nobody else can, he wants to centralize everything, ”said the mayor of Soyapango.
He adds that there are at least 15 municipalities that are going through a difficult situation because they do not have the Fodes and that it is the population that is affected by projects that have stopped.
“Since he (Bukele) has confessed it, the most certain thing is that we might be putting a reminder (in the prosecutor’s office) against the president, given that he publicly admits that he stands behind all this against the local governments”, says Álvarez.
The mayor of Santa Tecla, Roberto d’Aubuisson, clarifies that the Fodes is going for social infrastructure works, fairs, municipal clinics, day-care centers, for the benefit of the population, they are not funds that go to mayors.
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“No one knows the needs of a population better than a mayor, because he is the official closest to the population. The fact that the president (Bukele) shows that (that money is lost with the mayors) shows a total ignorance about the function of what the mayors do and that is worried because he was mayor and was one of those at the time fighting were because the Fodes fund was transferred when it was one month past due, and now seven months, ”explains d’Aubuisson.
The dean of economics of the ESEN, Carmen Aída Lazo, in turn points out that the executive branch has no room for maneuver to determine the percentage allocated to the mayors, because it is a law that must be obeyed.
It is necessary to see plans for public works
On Sunday, December 27, the government announced that next year they will implement the full public works budget in just 4 months and that when a new Assembly arrives, which they hope will be favorable, it will manage these new funds for projects.
SEE ALSO: The Bukele government plans to spend the entire 2021 Public Works budget in four months and then ask for more money with a new Assembly
“I don’t see it feasible because of the times they have shown in implementation. It seems they are not keeping their promises, the same they said about the hospital (El Salvador) and the bridge (Chichilco). The evidence in history shows that they are overly optimistic about public works execution times, ”Lazo said of the announcement.