Bajo Lempa Rejects the Public-Private Partnership Law

The Inter-Institutional Group of the Bajo Lempa region of Jiquilisco released a statement this afternoon in response to the passage of the Public-Private Partnership Law that passed through the Legislative Assembly last week. Their statement comes as the Salvadoran government announced that it is forming a commission to start organizing the first round of partnership agreements.

The Inter-Institutional group is comprised of several local and national development organizations working in the Bajo Lempa and Bay of Jiquilisco – they include organizations like ACUDESBAL (The United Communities of the Bajo Lempa), ADIBAL (Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral del Bajo Lempa), CESTA (Center for the Application of Sustainable Technology), ASPS (Salvadoran Association of Public Health), the Pastoral Team of the Lower Lempa, the Emergency Fund, and Voices on the Border. It also includes communities such as Amando Lopez, Comunidad Octavio Ortiz, La Tirana, Nueva Esperanza, and others.

Here is the Inter-Institutional Group’s statement, first an English translation and then the original Spanish.

PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP LAW

MORE POVERTY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION

The Inter-Institutional group of civil society organziations of the Lower Lempa and communities in the municipality of Jaquilisco express our strong opposition to the Public-Private Partnerships Law, passed by the Legislative Assembly on Thursday May 23.

Neoliberal measures implemented in El Salvador have failed in every way. Privatization, dollarization and CAFTA-DR were supposed to create jobs and economic growth, but it never happened. Instead poverty, violence, environmental degradatoin and corruption increased significantly during the 4 ARENA governments that oversaw the implementation of these neoliberal policies. We deeply regret that our country continues to embrace the neoliberal agenda dictated by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the United States government, the principal “advisors” and promoters of the Public-Private Partnerships Law.

We recognize that the FMLN introduced important changes to the original bill, but at the same time it infuriates us that the party that once led a fierce opposition to the neoliberal agenda is now endorcing this type of law that provides state resources to transnational corporations whose only purpose is economic profit not the wellfare of the Salvadoran population, which has been marginalized throughout its history.

State resources such as the Comalapa International Airport, seaports, hydroelectric dams, highways and others are the property of all Salvadorans are likely to be endlessly exploited by private companies. Even worse is what can happen to the beaches, mangrove forests and nature reserves.

The Public Private Partnership law also paves the way for the second FOMILENIO, a megaproject that constitutes a series of threats to coastal ecosystems and their populations. Like the proposed gold mining projects and the construction of dams, the second FOMILENIO fund will provide large national and transnational corporations with economic benefit while providing the communities with economic and environmental problems.

Taking into account that all political parties lost credibility with the approval of the Law on Public Partnership Law and no longer represent the interests of the people, and we the below signed organizations and communities of the Lower Lempa once again reiterate our determination to defend our lives and territory until the ultimate consequences.

FOR THE DEFENSE OF LIFE AND THE TERRITORY
THE INTER-INSTITUTIONAL OF THE BAJO LEMPA

Spanish:

LEY DE ASOCIOS PÚBLICO PRIVADOS,

SAQUEO,  POBREZA Y DESTRUCCIÓN AMBIENTAL

La Interinstitucional del Bajo Lempa (INTERBAL), integrada por organizaciones sociales y comunidades del municipio de Jiquilisco, expresamos nuestro más enérgico rechazo a la Ley de Asocios Público Privados aprobada por la Asamblea Legislativa, el jueves 23 de mayo.

Las medidas neoliberales aplicadas en El Salvador fracasaron en todo sentido, las promesas de empleo y de crecimiento económico que acompañaron las privatizaciones, la dolarización y la firma del CAFTA-DR, jamás se cumplieron y en su lugar la pobreza, la violencia, el deterioro del medio ambiente y la corrupción se incrementaron grandemente durante los 4 gobiernos de ARENA. Lamentamos profundamente que el país continúe asumiendo la “receta” neoliberal dictada por el Banco Mundial, El Fondo Monetario Internacional y el gobierno de Los Estados Unidos, principales “asesores” y promotores de esta Ley.

Tenemos conocimiento que el FMLN introdujo importantes modificaciones al proyecto de ley original, pero a la vez  nos provoca indignación que el partido que fue  férreo opositor a la doctrina neoliberal   ahora avale este tipo de leyes que ofrecen recursos del Estado a empresas trasnacionales cuyo único fin es el  lucro económico y no el bienestar de la población históricamente excluida.

Bienes como el aeropuerto, los puertos, presas hidroeléctricas, carreteras y otros que actualmente son propiedad de todos los salvadoreños y salvadoreñas serán susceptibles de ser explotados hasta la saciedad por empresas privadas; pero más grave aún es lo que puede pasar con las playas, los bosques de manglar  y las reservas naturales.

Esta ley también abre el camino para el  segundo FOMILENIO, megaproyecto que constituye una seria amenaza a los ecosistemas costeros del país y a la población. Al igual que los proyectos mineros y de construcción de represas, de concretarse el segundo FOMILENIO,  grandes empresas, nacionales y trasnacionales saquearan los recursos de la zona, se quedaran con los beneficios económicos y las comunidades que habitan los territorios costeromarinos, serán desplazadas y abandonadas con muchos problemas.

Teniendo en cuenta que con la aprobación de la Ley de Asocios Público Privados todos los partidos políticos han perdido credibilidad y han dejado de representar los intereses de la población salvadoreña, las organizaciones  y comunidades del Bajo Lempa reiteramos una vez más nuestra determinación a defender la vida y el territorio hasta las últimas consecuencias.

POR LA DEFENSA DE LA VIDA Y EL TERRITORIO.

INTERINSTITUCIONAL DEL BAJO LEMPA

Communities still demand reconstruction in the Lower Lempa

This is a translation of Contrapunto‘s February 13th note about our partners in the Lower Lempa.

By Gloria Morán

Photo: Luis Veláquez

San Salvador – It has been two months since the Salvadoran President, Mauricio Funes, promised to invest around 21 million dollars for the reconstruction efforts in the Lower Lempa.  Today, representatives from the region are denouncing the failure to fulfill this promise.

On December 19^th Funes made this promise, just after the Lower Lempa had suffered the some of the worst impacts of Tropical Storm 12E in October 2011.  “The first priority is the recovery of the levees along the shores of the Lempa River; then the rehabilitation of the drainage ditches, and the construction of two permanent shelters that can provide security and hygiene should future evacuations prove necessary”, announced Funes to local residents in December.

At that moment the Salvadoran representative assumed, with authority, the reconstruction as part of the historic debt owed to the residents of the Lower Lempa, noting that they had discover drainage systems that hadn’t been maintained in over 30 years.

Of these promises, Gilberto Berríos of United Communities (ACUDESBAL), assured us that “of that promised, still nothing has been done”.  The residents of the Lower Lempa, above all, ask that the government repair and rebuild the damaged levees as quickly as possible.  They also demand that they begin the cleaning and rehabilitation of the drainage system and the reconstruction of the main roads that were washed out.  They also insist that the hydroelectric company, CEL, establishes a protocol for discharges so that the residents know when they will release the water, and how much.

They also request that the government create an integral plan to provide health, education, and basic services to the local population; not just reconstruction.  “What is happening now, since nothing is being repaired, is that we are preparing for another flood”, said Maritza Hernández, another representative from the Lower Lempa, who affirmed that time is their worst enemy.

José Acosta, representative in the Lower Lempa for the Center for Appropriate Technology (CESTA), expalined that the greatest worry of the communities is the imminent arrival of the rainy season [around May], and there has been no progress.  Berríos explained that they have seen the contractors who are responsible for the reconstruction in the region, but they have only cleaned-up and marked-off the areas where “we suppose they plan on doing some work, but this is insufficient”.

The representatives of the communities expressed that this is nothing new.  They have been waiting 13 years since Hurricane Mitch and the levees are still incomplete.

According to the surveys done by organizations in the region, 29 communities have been directly affected, of about 2,000 families. [in Jiquilisco]

In regards to the unfulfilled promises made by the president, the head of the Human Rights Ombudsman’s office (PDDH), Oscar Luna, said that as an institution they are requesting the necessary measures so that the residents of the Lower Lempa and other communities receive the help they need in so far as rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Voices note:

The promises made on December 19^th by President Funes were considerably more modest than those announced just 3 days after Tropical Storm 12E.  On October 20^th, Funes flew into the offices of the Mangle Association in the Lower Lempa and declared that the government and the CEL hydroelectric company would build levees, clean the drainage system, build shelters and dredge the Lempa River.  He also emphasized the government’s interest in establishing the Lower Lempa as a key region for agricultural development in El Salvador, as well as the their commitment to an integral risk management policy.  On November 15^th Funes reiterated these promises, even going on to explain that the CEL wanted to just repair a few of the levees, but he had ordered them to include all of the communities, especially along the Tecoluca side of the river. According to a delegation of German Engineers from 2003, it would cost about 400 million dollars to complete all levees, drains, and to dredge the river.  The 21 million that the CEL and the Salvadoran government finally signed off on is really just another band-aid on an increasingly compromised infrastructure.  If the contractors continue the ‘reconstruction’ effort at this pace, the effort will certainly be of little use in the Lower Lempa.