QCOSTARICA — Some 3,000 kilometers of roads divide the MOPT and the municipalities and the question of who should be responsible for their maintenance?
A decree signed by the government of Rodrigo Chaves caused the municipal sector to come out together to complain about an alleged transfer of responsibilities.
For the municipalities, the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) – Ministry of Public Works and Transport – is holding them responsible for the state of these roads, includes both tertiary and secondary routes, but without giving them the budgetary content.
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The decree that the municipalities object to comes into effect on July 10, according to the Asociación Nacional de Alcaldías e Intendencias (ANAI) and the Unión Nacional de Gobiernos Locales (UNGL). – National Association of Mayors and Municipalities and the National Union of Local Governments.
“Throughout the national territory there are streets and roads that have been abandoned for years by Conavi and the MOPT. These are national routes that today they want to transfer to local governments, but without an additional transfer of resources. This is why we oppose and request the repeal of the decree, to immediately open a dialogue and negotiation table in the Legislative Assembly to seek more resources for the road network,” said Maikol Porras Morales, Mayor of Sarchí and president of ANAI.
If this transfer of roads materializes, local governments would require at least ¢70 billion colones annually to maintain these additional 3,071 kilometers.
These streets are distributed in 78 cantons, mainly rural, to which the most kilometers will be transferred are in San Carlos (230 km), Pérez Zeledón (223 km), Pococí (190 km), Tilarán (114 km), Turrubares (97 km), Corredores (93 km), Turrialba (87 km), Nicoya (83 km) and Puriscal (81 km).
Meanwhile, Efraím Zeledón, vice minister of Infrastructure of the MOPT and interim executive director of Conavi, indicated to CRHoy.com that the decree was published in January and that prior to its publication a public consultation was carried out where only 2 people expressed their discontent.
“What the decree establishes are the parameters and guidelines that will be used to define which routes are not part of the strategic network and could be transferred to the cantonal road network, but nothing more to clarify, that it is not that 11 in July, as municipalities, you will have 3,000 more kilometers of routes,” said the official.
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On Thursday, June 27, the Constitutional Court or Sala IV as it is commonly referred to, announced it had on June 24, 2024, at 9:24 am, accepted for study an action of unconstitutionality (appeal for protection) against the decree, in file 24-016409-0007-CO.
The action was presented by Javier Bogantes Castro, mayor of Abangares, who alleged before the high court an alleged violation of municipal autonomy, as well as the constitutional principles of reserve of law, reasonableness and proportionality.
“The regulations are challenged as they define new conditions, both for the national road network and for the cantonal road network, in such a way that, tacitly, it transfers more than 3,000 kilometers of the national road network to the municipalities, via decree.
“This without complying with the constitutional and legal requirements and without the transfer of resources to be able to fulfill the responsibilities of caring for this important section of the national road network,” said the mayor during the explanatory statement.
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The mayor of Abangares was emphatic that it is not possible through an executive decree for the Government to transfer powers and without transferring funds to proceed with its respective action.
He added that “the process of transferring powers is a reserve of law and there should be a concentration process with local governments so that efficient processes and strengthening of local governance are achieved through decentralization.”
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