Although the road section was rebuilt at kilometer 44 of the Route to Pacific, and the Ministry of Communications (CIV) raised 242 competitions for the maintenance of the road network, the Foundation for the Development of Guatemala (Fundesa) and transporters emphasize that several routes continue in poor condition and affect mobility.
During an interview with the Network Newsthe Minister of Communications, Miguel Ángel Díaz Bobadilla, said that in the face of the rainy season, preventive measures will be taken to prevent the highway and other highway sections from collapsing again. Therefore, 242 events were published for the maintenance of roads.
These works, according to the Guatecompras portal, correspond to repairs of the road network in Zacapa, Totonicapán, Suchitepéquez, Sololá, Santa Rosa, San Marcos, Sacatepéquez, among other departments.
According to the official, between June and July there will be bump work and relapse on the inter -American route. The Manuel José Arce bridge will also be maintained, at the border with El Salvador.
“This bridge was built in its entirety by El Salvador, but on the Guatemalan side a roundabout must be enabled. There were delays due to track right, but the problem was solved,” he said.
Weeks ago, the minister was criticized during a summons with deputies, because 66 road maintenance events were canceled. However, Díaz Bobadilla said the corrections were made and the process to award them was resumed.
“We are already working on it; corrective measures were taken. Every human being is likely to make mistakes,” he justified.
The official indicated that the restoration of the road at kilometer 44 of the Palín-Secla highway was delayed because the portfolio does not have personnel to perform those works and must hire it, which implies complying with the state bureaucracy.
Díaz Bonilla highlighted in the interview that through a technical table they review the judicial projects to find a way to continue its construction.
“A part of them is being retaken and viable, but there are others in which you cannot, because the law cannot be broken,” he said.
Other sections
For Juan Carlos Zapata, director of Fundesa, the Palín-Secla highway still presents serious maintenance inconveniences, and the government must decide how to resolve them.
“While there is already an opening at kilometer 44, it is still far from being the highway we had when it had tolls,” he stressed.
He added: “In Guatemala we have around 19 thousand kilometers of roads and only 40% of our road network have asphalt; 60% is land. So, there is still much to do throughout the country’s road network.”
One of the most important routes to build, according to Zapata, is the regional ring. It also considers that you must have municipal rings to avoid going through cities. In addition, it considers it necessary to reactivate the public projects that are suspended.
“For example, everything that is the North CA-9 and the South CA-9, especially on the route from Escuintla to Mexico, as well as the North CA-9, which goes from Guatemala to the Atlantic,” he said.
“The CA-2, both the West and the East, also-which is the one from Mexico to the border with El Salvador..
Excess mounds
Héctor Fajardo, director of the Central American Chamber of Transporters (Catransca), affirms that the Palín-Secla highway has vulnerable points, and that if maintenance is not given in the coming months, a problem similar to kilometer 44 during the rainy season could be originated.
“On the CA-2 route you have to wait an hour to spend in the section of cocales. In CA-2 Oriente, from Escuintla to El Salvador, there are many damage, especially in the bridges, because the rolling folder has huge holes,” he said.
Fajardo also argues that going through Amatitlán is a serious problem. To this are added the difficulties in the routes towards the ports of the Atlantic, mainly between Teculután and Río Hondo, in Zacapa, and the funnels when crossing the chitumal bridge on that road.
The transport entrepreneur adds that, to the damage to the roads, the excessive amount of mounds is added, which affects mobility, mainly on the route to Petén, on the routes to the western highlands and on the road that goes from Retalhuleu to Quetzaltenango.