After the Government objected to a bill that seeks to guarantee access to the public home service of combustible gas, through networks in new social interest housing (VIS), and priority interest housing (VIP), the Colombian Natural Gas Association (Natugas), announced its position on the matter and He described this initiative as an opportunity for more than 1.5 million families to migrate to a cheaper and less polluting source of energy..
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“Once the traceability and the text of the objection to the bill that seeks to guarantee access to the essential public service of natural gas, through a subsidy to poor families, equivalent to 70% of the value of the connection and internal installation, for new social interest (VIS) and priority (VIP) housing, as well as in the housing improvement program, have been verified, it is noted that the intention of the legislator is that the implementation of the Law be done “within” the fiscal framework and not “at” the margin, as approved,” the association noted.
According to Naturgas, the text of the draft law referred to provides a guarantee of fiscal sustainability for the implementation of this law. The entities mentioned will allocate in their budgets and investment plans the necessary resources to guarantee compliance with it. The budgetary adjustments considered in this article will be made progressively and outside the medium and long-term fiscal framework.
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For the Association, the true purpose of this article, as can be deduced from the first part of it, is that natural gas connection subsidies must be carried out progressively and consistently with the medium and long-term fiscal framework for the benefit of vulnerable families in the country.
Luz Stella Murgas, president of Naturgas
Courtesy
Benefit for vulnerable families
In this regard, Luz Stella Murgas, president of Naturgas, says that “this project represents a valuable opportunity for 1.5 million families to migrate to a cheaper and less polluting source of energy such as firewood for cooking in their homes. In addition, it will allow the country to advance towards the energy transition that Colombians need, reducing energy poverty and closing inequality gaps in families in strata 1, 2 and 3.”
This bill is issued in accordance with Article 232 of the National Development Plan 2022 – 2026, which refers to the program to replace firewood, coal and waste with transitional energy sources for cooking food and according to which it will be possible subsidize, finance or co-finance the connection of each user to the public gas service or other sources such as biogasamong other transitional energy sources, which will promote the economic and social well-being of the most vulnerable households.
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In addition, This bill includes the concept of fiscal analysis required for debate in the Congress of the Republic, presented on March 22 of this year by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, and whose comments were considered for the preparation of the final version of the project.
“Facilitating access to natural gas is not only a matter of social justice, but also of public health. Because families that continue to use inefficient and polluting fuels such as firewood today face greater risks of respiratory diseases and thanks to this project we can provide them with access to a clean kitchen to improve their quality of life,” the president of Naturgas pointed out.
In the face of the objection of the National Government, the natural gas industry trusts that the Congress of the Republic, following the procedure established by the Law, will consider the true spirit of the project, for the benefit of the most vulnerable families in Colombia and without putting their access to the energy transition at risk.
BRIEFCASE
