| Work Detail |
Crisis in construction: “Eliminating public works due to corruption is like killing the sick to end a disease”
The recession due to the drastic drop in activity in different sectors of the economy is beginning to hit employment rates hard. A witness case is that of construction, since the paralysis of public works since the inauguration of Javier Milei led to the loss of at least 150,000 jobs.
The companies in this industry, the union and analysts anticipate that the trend is far from reversing in the coming months, as a result of the “chainsaw” in the projects that were financed by the National State and that had signed contracts. In fact, they warn that the accumulated number of layoffs in the coming months could double.
The president of the Confederation of Construction SMEs of Argentina, Gerardo Antonio Fernández, declared before the microphones of FM Vos 94.5 that the recession is leaving many companies on the verge of bankruptcy.
«We are bad, that is the reality. The current government has not even paid the invoices for the work carried out, meaning that it is judicially considered to be in breach of contract. We dont know why they do this, they decided not to pay and thats it. “Uncertainty greatly overwhelms the sector,” Gerardo Fernández expressed at the beginning of the report.
«The political decision to close the deficit brought with it various non-compliance with expenditures with public works and other sectors. In that sense, it is public knowledge that transfers to the provinces have been eliminated. The State is not complying with what has been agreed upon through a contract or law. If one does not pay what one owes, it is obvious that one will end up with a deficit, but anyone realizes that this is bread for today and hunger for tomorrow. "We cannot continue like this because no sector of the economy is functioning," he warned.
«The government is covering itself with a short blanket, because the fact of not complying with its obligations has also meant that companies that did not charge for the work carried out have not been able to comply with payments to their suppliers. So, by stopping buying in the market, tax collections such as VAT have fallen. In this way, the goal of zero deficit is going to be lost because the State receives less and less revenue. Today the turning point for Argentina to begin to be a sustainable country seems far away," Fernández argued.
Likewise, he refuted the position of the national government that argues that the stoppage of public works is necessary because it is a sector that is tainted by corruption. «For the government it would seem that public works are just a synonym for corruption. A period of review and study of the works in progress can be understood, but not a permanent paralysis as government management. It is possible, or at least we do not deny, that the execution of large-scale works at the national level could have led to illegal acts, but that is what Justice exists for. The national State should carry out the audits it considers pertinent and report the facts criminally. If you think this is the case, you should act and not continue feeding the myth. They are generalizing about the sector when in the interior of the country there are a lot of SMEs that work from six in the morning to be able to cover everyday expenses, such as the fees for the children who go to school or the payment of the credit card. It seems to me that all these people are very far from falling into a category called corruption. Eliminating public works due to corruption is like killing the sick to end a disease. What they are doing is truly crazy, you cannot punish all companies for two or three people who could have committed a crime. The Nation must demand that Justice act so that all doubts are cleared up," he reasoned.
On the other hand, taking into account this very gloomy outlook, he commented that the reactivation of the sector does not seem to be a near event on the horizon. «The continuity of the contracts can occur after there is a rearrangement of the economic variables. Since we do not know how long this process takes, the big question is knowing how many companies will be left standing when the macroeconomy settles in. The stop to public works has left many people on the streets, without work. There are already more than 150 thousand registered jobs that were lost. There are also layoffs in collateral areas such as corralones or companies that sell construction materials," said the president of the Confederation of Construction SMEs of Argentina.
«In his last speech, the President of the Nation said that the entire infrastructure part will be financed by private capital. The sector has been used as a negotiation tool between the Nation and provinces. There is a perverse political game that cannot be understood, it is almost extortion. The reactivation of public works depends on the approval of the Basic Law, meanwhile the small SMEs that are in the middle were left in absolute helplessness," he stated at the end of the report. |
