Global Courant 2023-04-13 16:00:52
Without a defined future for the administration of the Palín-Escuintla highway, the residents propose a referendum for the administration of that road; although they already express their disagreement with the renewal of the contract with the current company that manages the route, and their main demand is that the toll be removed and that the government or the municipalities face their responsibility to maintain that road, aware of the risk that this represents.
On April 24, the company Marhnos must return to the Ministry of Communications Infrastructure and Housing (CIV). The concession was granted at the end of the 1990s and was promoted by the government administration at that time.
However, residents of the region believe that all the sectors involved should be consulted so that there are no disagreements in the decisions that are made. Héctor Robledo, a merchant and resident of Palín, says that the most viable thing is that there are no more charges and that it be a free route, but to maintain the checkpoints, that the municipality be in charge of managing the funds.
“It is risky for the municipality to manage the money from what is paid, but I also believe that not all of them are irresponsible, there are those who only come to serve themselves, they do not come to serve the people, I am not against them, they must carry out their work” , think.
David Gómez, a resident of Palín, maintains that a concession prevents accidents, keeps vehicles in good condition, and by leaving the highway in the hands of the government, the current conditions of that section of highway would be lost.
“Logically there should be no charges, that would have a great positive impact on those who travel through the place daily, that would be the best, but if there is no concession, I am sure that in one or two years it will be very bumpy, it is It’s good that it stays under concession, I travel the highway from Cuilapa to Palín and I spend Q25, but that saves me time and fuel, because if that highway didn’t exist I would have to cross the entire capital to get here,” he says.
In the opinion of Alfonso Tax, “for the good of the economy and of the merchants” who use the route to the Pacific on a daily basis, the pass should remain free of charges. However, he sees it as difficult and proposes that the municipality be the one to administer the funds, with the hope that the resources will be used for the improvement of the municipality.
“If the toll remains, the service should be extended, because sometimes there are queues and up to two hours are lost to pass, especially at Easter time, I think the cost is considerable and is not exaggerated.”
Norma Cux, a clothing merchant, affirms that she constantly travels to Escuintla, but prefers to use the old highway. However, the time to get there doubles due to the congestion caused by heavy transport.
“It is chaos, not all of us have the resources to pay the Q15 that the toll charges, so we prefer to save those costs, even if it means dealing with the long lines of trucks, sometimes the line stops completely, neither going back nor for forward.
Escuintla does not want more payments
For the mayor of Escuintla, Abraham Rivera Estévez, this is one of the main problems, especially in the jurisdiction of the municipality, and he considers that the contract should not be renewed and the route should remain free of tolls.
“The person in charge of the roads is the Ministry of Communications through Covial, we have seen that kilometer 38 is maintained by maintaining the route and could continue with the other 17 kilometers of the route that connects Palín and Escuintla. We cannot remove the responsibility from the State and it is not possible that we continue to suffer that amount of heavy traffic due to the incapacity of officials, “said the mayor.
The mayor says he is not against tolls. However, he maintains that the highway failed due to complications in transit through neighboring municipalities due to high charges and does not leave any benefit for the town.
Carola Alvarado, representative of a group of organized neighbors called the Palín-Escuintla Highway Block free of Tolls, says that they want a consultation of neighbors to determine their position on the issue and that the municipal authorities take them into account when time to make a decision
“That the representatives of Congress take into account the position of the population so that they influence what they are going to do. It is not only the mayor who decides, the municipality endorses the consultation of neighbors and so we are in that process, ”he pointed out.
For this Sunday, a meeting between residents and municipal authorities is planned in the central square of Palín, where they will seek to integrate a commission that will be the one that organizes the consultation of neighbors.
“This meeting is where it is decided how the process will be carried out and that they will be asked, what we have heard is that the majority of residents no longer want the toll and that it be a free route, but for concrete answers they have to go through a process and determine a date.”
