President Gustavo Petro, in dialogue with the leaders of the Community Action Boards of Duitama, Boyacá, announced thatIt will plunge control in what has to do with the management of residential public services in the country.
(Read: The law on which Gustavo Petro relies to adjust rates).
“This President has decided not to delegate his functions to the public service regulation commissions, at least for a while. So, I am going to assume control, the general administration policies of Colombia, directly and personally, based on what the Law itself says: first, the general interest and that of the user”, said the Head of State.
The decision has generated concern from different sectors. One of them, the unions electric power and natural gas which issued a statement rejecting the President’s proposal.
In principle, they highlight that both sectors have had a robust and stable institutional framework, which has allowed all actors to work in an articulated manner “achieving, in the last three decades, significant improvements in coverage and quality of these two essential public services for citizens“.
(Further: ‘Regulatory bodies must be independent’: Creg responds to Petro).
Consequently, they consider that the decision to resume the regulatory functions of residential public services weakens the institutional framework. “With this they put at risk the confidence of the agents that provide these services to execute the public and private investments necessary to guarantee them, including that the projects that will allow the country to advance in the energy transition process will probably be affected, which would harm all Colombians,” they say.
Finally, They were open to continue working together with the National Government and seek solutions and sustainable improvements with technical rigor. All this “in the
institutional framework and best practices recommended in matters of public policy and sectoral regulation”.
BRIEFCASE
