| Work Detail |
They consist of the construction of new hangars and accesses for the capitals airport and for a bridge, and the Rio Dulce waterfront; The beneficiary is a company that is in charge of the main projects in the province
Santiago del Estero decreed an economic and financial emergency in December, seeing that the future held a cut in income as a result of the adjustment policy of the new libertarian government, whose intention would be to stop discretionary transfers to the provinces. In the case of the district governed by Gerardo Zamora, the decree of necessity and urgency was published on the 15th and ratified on the 26th by the local Legislature. Among the articles, the suspension of new public works projects and unannounced tenders for six months was determined, except those related to the maintenance of essential infrastructure. However, days later, three public works were awarded to the same company for a total of close to $24 billion.
The three projects had a public bidding process and Mijovi SRL, a well-known company in the province, a frequent recipient of state funds for public works, participated and won in all of them. The company was involved in the construction of the Unique Mother of Cities Stadium, the racetrack in the Termas de Rio Hondo, the Santiago Twin Towers, homes and routes. Now it will be in charge of the left bank waterfront of the Río Dulce in the town of La Banda, new accesses to the Santiago del Estero airport and others to the bridge over the river in Tasigasta. For this they will receive $11,622,933,198.78, $2,449,948,234.59 and $10,221,441,882.2, respectively, according to decrees 2940, 2995, and 2964.
At the official exchange rate, it is about US$28 million. However, three days before the works were awarded through a decree signed by the governor and published in the Official Gazette, Zamora announced that only "urgent projects to solve essential services" and the rest of the works would move forward. They would be suspended for six months. In a message to the people of Santiago, he said: “The measures are necessary in the face of possible imbalances that many provinces are worried about having soon.”
Zamora
LA NACION consulted the government about the reasons for the award, but did not receive a response.
The works consist of about four kilometers of bordering on the east coast of the Río Dulce, which should be completed in one year and, in the same period, access to a bridge over Tasigasta. The approval was also given for the construction of aircraft hangars and new access to the Vicecomodoro Ángel de la Paz Aragonés airport in the capital.
Mijovi SRL, owned by the Sarquiz family, was one of the companies involved in the bribery notebooks scandal, as it was mentioned in the case by the Kirchnerist financier Néstor Clarens, who repented in the file. José Alberto and Miguel Alberto, brothers, were part of the cause of the cartelization of public works, although in 2019 Judge Claudio Bonadio ruled that there was no merit due to the lack of sufficient evidence to advance in that instance. “It is premature to adopt an incriminating temperament or completely disassociate them from the proceedings, so their lack of merit will have to be ordered, under the terms of article 309 of the National Criminal Procedure Code,” the ruling mentioned.
Miguel, one of the brothers, was murdered in 2012 in his own home. According to testimonies from that time, which deal with the judicial case, two people entered his house in La Banda on the afternoon of July 24 of that year and, armed, asked for Miguel Sarquiz. After locking up workers who were in the home, they shot him in the stomach. The case, which is being handled by Judge Ana María Rodríguez, has not yet been resolved.
One by one, Zamoras 10 emergency measures
– Freezing of vacancies, new appointments, or hiring in the public administration and decentralized organizations.
Freezing of budget items of the public administration for promotional or official dissemination expenses.
-Suspension of transfers and extraordinary financial assistance to municipalities and municipal commissions.
-Public works: new projects and tenders that are not awarded and/or under contract will be suspended for six months. Infrastructure maintenance or emergency works to solve essential services are excepted.
-Strict control of cost reduction in all public organizations with the adaptation of administrative structures. Limits will be imposed for six months on the use and renewal of budget items in specific permanent funds or special accounts.
-A special regime will be carried out for the granting, surrender and control of subsidies granted by the State.
-Imposition of controls on the use of funds of any kind from the national State or international financing as well as those produced by provincial special accounts.
-Promote the use of technology as a tool for efficiency and savings in input costs such as stationery so that the management of public administration generates minimum and essential expenses.
-Regulations will be placed with limits and control on the granting of per diems, trips and service commissions as well as the elimination, for that period, of protocols, events, reception, courtesy, tribute, greetings, entertainment or similar events that are not duly authorized or justified.
-Strict control of the use of official vehicles under the direct responsibility of the official in charge and the suspension of rentals of vehicles, machinery or equipment by departments, decentralized organizations and autonomous entities. |
