Water crisis in Colombian city worsens amid political feud
On April 18, the public services utility of Colombian city Santa Marta (Magdalena department), Essmar, has assumed the full operation of the local water infrastructure, following the end of a two-year service contract with the local branch of French firm Veolia, according to the latter’s website.
The transition comes at a difficult time. As result of the El Niño weather phenomenon and the poor state of the local aqueduct, over half of the city lacks water services.
As the city also expects an influx of tourists over the Easter holidays, the national government has requested nearby cities like Barranquilla and Ciénaga share water with Santa Marta.
Water vice minister José Luis Acero told Radio W earlier this week that his office is talking with utilities Triple A (Barranquilla) and Aguas de la Sierra (Ciénaga) to support a contingency plan that will deploy 67 water trucks to Santa Marta.
The vice minister warned that, as a result of El Niño, Santa Marta’s water plants are receiving less than 30% of the water needed. In March, the city was estimated to have a 1,300l/s deficit.
POLITICAL CLASH
In late 2018, a US$1bn PPP to build a new aqueduct had its budget slashed to US$153-192mn after the housing ministry argued that if the national government had covered nearly half the cost, as the previous administration had promised, the water resources of the entire country could have been compromised for five years.
In February, the same government office and the city administration admitted that the PPP would be halted “until further notice,” with minister Jonathan Malagón saying that “time has run out for major plans to structure mammoth projects that take a decade.”
Mayor Rafael Martínez questioned this decision, taken by the Iván Duque administration, saying the city “wasted a lot of time” on the PPP, whose technical feasibility the previous government verified.
Eduardo Brito, a journalist that worked for the Santa Marta city government and is now running for city council, told BNamericas that “when Duque was campaigning, he said that he would solve the water problem, but after being elected he went on and said that he didn’t have [Hugo] Chávez’s wallet.”
Brito added that in January, minister Acero sent a letter to the city government in which he promised the national administration would provide 200bn pesos (US$63mn) for the PPP, but only starting in 2021 and if macroeconomic conditions remained stable.
“In other words, what's that for? By 2021 Duque is going to be in his last year of government. That’s not good for anything,” Brito said.
Meanwhile, Martínez is facing legal actions over contract irregularities regarding the construction of health centers. He is under house arrest, according to the prosecutor office’s website.
Martínez has denied the accusations through Twitter and has said that the process is being pushed by actors that want him out of the city government before he can run for reelection in October.
In his place, the national government put Andrés Rugeles as interim mayor. Rugeles previously served as transparency secretary for Duque’s administration.
Brito said that Rugeles, as part of the Duque government, wasn't in favor of Essmar taking over after Veolia's contract expired.
Effectively, the interim mayor voiced his concern over Essmar’s actions. On April 15, during the last meeting of the utility’s board, Rugeles said that Essmar hadn’t provided documents that included the costs of Veolia’s operation, the transition schedule and others, the city government said in a press release.
In contrast, Brito said, Martínez’s administration leans more toward operating the system publicly, highlighting that Essmar has also taken over the administration of Santa Marta’s electric distribution network.
Since then, he says, the city has gained 2bn pesos in savings that have gone toward new investments.
Essmar’s head Ingrid Aguirre shares that view. Earlier this week she sent a press statement in which she insisted the utility has the capacity to operate the water system. She further said that “we want for Essmar to be the EPM of the coast,” alluding to Medellín’s successful multi utility.
Now, as a result of the political feud and Veolia’s exit, Brito said that no tenders for private companies are available and resources earmarked for the PPP are idle.
Aguirre emphasized that Essmar is studying which short-term investments could be done with the 890bn pesos (US$282mn) approved by the city government for the PPP.
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