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Gerardo Fernández, main leader of the sector in Mendoza and the country, described a catastrophic scenario and anticipated judicial measures
Facundo García
By Facundo García
garcia.facundo@grupoamerica.com.ar
Gerardo Fernández
Gerardo Fernández, reference for construction SMEs in Argentina.
President Javier Milei stated several times that, to avoid corruption in public works, the solution was to eliminate it. However, the around 3,000 construction SMEs in the country - about 160 in Mendoza - do not think the same.
Gerardo Fernández, president of the CPC (Confederation of Construction SMEs of the Argentine Republic) and second vice president of CECIM (Chamber of Independent Construction Companies of Mendoza) described a harsh outlook this Tuesday, in dialogue with the "Nihuil Report" program.
He said that since October they have not received a peso and that, despite the promises, the countrys public works have been completely stopped.
"We have not even collected what we executed in September" (Fernández)
"Anguish, disorientation and anxiety reign," he admitted. Within the SME construction industry, call it housing, curb, gutter and shoulder, everything that has to do with the local works carried out by the municipalities, the national funds are $0.
In the sector they estimate that the current situation could lead to 200,000 layoffs.
In the sector they estimate that the current situation could lead to 200,000 layoffs.
To this, he clarified, we must add that public works are paid with a delay of around 60 days, due to the administrative processes and certifications that must be met. That is to say that the stoppage, even if it ever ends, will have to add a long wait.
Fernández was sincere: "We are a sector that generates a very important spillover and social containment, but we have not even collected what we executed in September."
In Mendoza there are about 160 SMEs dedicated to construction. Fernández calculated that between 90 and 100 are close to a
In Mendoza there are about 160 SMEs dedicated to construction. Fernández estimated that between 90 and 100 are approaching a "collapse."
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Institutional disorder
The SME leader repeated several times that they do not find interlocutors in the national government. Not only because there are second or third line officials who have not been named, but because the untimely ejection of the now former Minister of Infrastructure, Guillermo Ferraro, revealed that there was no plan B for the portfolio.
"There is no one to talk to and they dont answer the phones," said the head of the CPC. "There are no meetings, and when there are, those who speak to you tell you that they cannot make decisions because they are afraid of ending up like the former minister," he said.
And he summarized: «Ferraro left an absolute void from the administrative and political point of view. In fact, until a week ago he was not resigned and the Minister of Justice, Mariano Cúneo Libarona, signed the papers for the Ministry of Infrastructure.
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"Situation of collapse"
Fernández went further and went so far as to assert that "there are SMEs that are in a situation of collapse." In Mendoza, he clarified, between 90 and 100 signatures would be faced with this desperate circumstance.
The reference recalled that, although at one point they assured from Casa Rosada that public works that were more than 80% advanced would be completed, this has not been verified.
«On top of that, many businessmen thought that this problem was going to be solved in some way, and they invested so as not to stop the works for which in the end no one pays them. Since October 2023, we have not received a cent, neither from the works that are 80% complete nor from those that are in any other state of progress," he complained.
Finally, the interviewee regretted that "one of Mileis campaign flags" has been legal certainty and that now, contradictorily, the national State "is one of the main breachers of contracts."
«What do you say to the 3,000 SMEs in the interior of the country that are not being met? Do you think that the conflict is not going to be judicialized? The problem is that from now on, when the sentences are reached, there will be layoffs - about 200,000 - and, at this rate, all those companies will no longer exist," he concluded. |
