The rainy season is a few months away from starting in Guatemala and the road network maintenance work by the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV) could be awarded when the rains have already settled in the country, which would delay their execution.
According to reports from the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (Insivumeh), the first rainfall of the season starts in Maywith peaks in June and September, a period in which landslides, sinkholes and sinkholes impact the country’s roads.
Norma Zea, head of the CIV, said this Monday, April 13 at a press conference, that they would just begin with the “pre-base” of 300 projects of the Road Maintenance Plan 2026in charge of the Road Conservation Executing Unit (Covial), so that they are awarded at the end of June or July.
“This does not mean that we are not also currently attending to the road network (…) Unfortunately, not all the projects of the 2025 plan were able to be activated. These are the ones that have been reactivated since January and are the ones that are being covered,” said the official.
He added that last year’s projects were “matched” with the current planning to cover maintenance from January to November and return Covial to its “natural cycle.”
In planning it was decided to have 22 civil works projects, Therefore, the companies to which the work is assigned must attend to emergencies of any type. “This will help us be more active, be more efficient when any situation occurs in each of the departments,” said Zea.
If the works are awarded until June or July, it will mean that the maintenance works begin in the middle of the rainy season, which It would complicate tasks such as cleaning, patching and maintenance of the road network.
Juan Carlos Zapata, executive director of the Foundation for the Development of Guatemala (Fundesa), pointed out that they recognize the capacity problems that the Ministry of Communications has; From that account, they have insisted on the implementation of the Priority Road Infrastructure Directorate (Dipp) and that the form of contracting changes from traditional public works to a payment system for service indicators.
The Dipp was approved 14 months ago, without it being fully integrated for now. It was created to plan the development and conservation of priority road infrastructure in the country, as well as convene, promote and carry out the prequalification, bidding and contracting processes of said projects and their supervision, among other functions established in the Decree 29-2024.
Zapata added that, in the meantime, it is important to start road maintenance work as soon as possible, considering the problems that the rains may cause.