Councillor Malvina Sarett (Colorado Party) has expressed her opposition to the project presented to the Departmental Council for the creation of a Residents’ Ombudsman’s Office in Colonia. This project, promoted by a councillor from the Frente Amplio and backed by the left-wing bench, does not have the support of Sarett, who had already expressed her disagreement in the corresponding Commission.
“In my opinion, this figure does not reflect the reality of the Department of Colonia. As was pointed out in the Commission, it is a bureaucratic tool that does not provide benefits to the Department or its cities. Currently, we have sufficient mechanisms to meet the needs of our communities,” said Sarett.
The Colorado Councillor also pointed out that the existing Ombudsman’s Offices in Montevideo and Canelones have become just another office, without contributing significantly to the departmental Executive. “We do not believe that these Ombudsman’s Offices are contributing much; rather, they represent an additional bureaucratic step within the departmental Administration,” she explained.
This statement is supported by statements made by Lic. María Elena Laurnaga, the Residents’ Ombudsman of Montevideo. During her visit to the Colonia Departmental Council, she stated that the project did not meet expectations.
Sarett stressed that, although she respects and supports any project that is presented and that deserves serious study, she cannot support this initiative in particular. “It is worth remembering that this project was already presented in previous periods as an initiative of the Colorado Party, but today it is out of date, anachronistic, because it did not mark the reality of Colonia before or now,” the Councilor stressed.
“We believe that this project would imply an increase in the budget due to the need to hire more officials. In other words, the budget that should have been included in the previous municipal budget would be considerably increased: now a revision to include it is no longer possible,” added Sarett.
“We must learn from the experience of other departments and not reproduce models that do not fit our reality. It is important to carefully evaluate the implications of each project before implementing it,” concluded Sarett.
Report from the secretary of the councillor Malvina Sarett
