President Gustavo Petro made forceful statements about the country’s 4G and 5G routes. Public opinion has strongly criticized the president’s position.
On December 7, during his speech in Buenaventura, Petro said that the 4G highways “some money is wasted” and that these “only serve to import products and kill national production”, in addition to the fact that “the owners of big capital in Colombia” benefit from that.
(Read: Execution of 4G roads in the country will be 85%, according to CCI).
On the other hand, on Saturday, December 17, the Minister of Transportation Guillermo Reyes announced the official delivery of the Pasto-Rumichaca highway that will benefit Nariño, 884,000 inhabitants and that “With this delivery, the government of life continues to encourage productivity, tourism and agribusiness”.
EL TIEMPO contacted Reyes to find out his position on Petro’s statements, which are contradictory to his own, but from the portfolio they indicated that they would not give statements in this regard.
Reactions to Petro’s statements
One of the President’s strongest critics spoke out. This is the former mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Penalosa: “No president on the planet has said such a delirious absurdity: that the highways are only good for the tractor-trailers that bring the goods of the rich. They are used to export coffee or palm oil, to import wheat, bread, pasta, fertilizers and industrial machinery”.
For his part, Bruce MacMaster, president of Andi, recalled that infrastructure is key to achieving the other objectives proposed by the Petro government. “National roads, 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G; all are necessary. So that? To unite Colombia and its regions. Neither peace, nor the union of the territory nor competitiveness are possible without infrastructure. Not only these, there are many more works to be able to have a viable country”, said the union leader.
(In addition: Hidroituango: impacts on the price of energy due to the start of operation).
On the other hand, when asked if there is a response to the president’s statements about the roads, Juan Martín Caicedo, president of the Colombian Chamber of Infrastructure (CCI), assured that his union “refrains from making any comments.”
However, in recent days a report was released with the entity’s expectations for 2023, which includes several 4G road concessions. “By 2023, the program will surely reach execution levels above 85 percent, and, in total, 20 projects will be in the operation and maintenance stage,” the union indicates.
For its part, from the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI), the progress of these projects is 69.5 percent. But from this agency attached to the Government there was no reaction to Petro’s words either.
(Keep reading: They deliver the sixth 4G route in the country: Rumichaca-Pasto).
Additionally, regarding 5G concessions, the ICC confirmed that for these an investment of 9.4 billion pesos will be allocated for six projects that will involve more than 1,000 kilometres.
BRIEFCASE
With information from EL TIEMPO*
