There are 46 plans from various sectors. The works take 6 to 7 years, which is too long, says the minister

The Minister of Economy and Finance, José Arista, reported today that to date there are 46 large-scale projects that are paralyzed and that represent investments of 8.5 billion soles.

"There are 46 large-scale infrastructure projects that the country needs, but they are paralyzed for various reasons," he said during his presentation in the Congress of the Republic to support the creation of the new Ministry of Infrastructure.

In this regard, he said that the infrastructure gap in Peru exceeds 100 billion dollars.

Arista explained that of the 46 paralyzed projects, 3 correspond to the Education sector, 13 to Health, 2 to irrigation, 5 to urban roads and 18 to water and sanitation works.

“Why are so many works paralyzed? For example, in health, the responsibility for building hospitals was transferred to the Regional Governments, but since they do not have the experience, the expertise, or the financial backing, they end up making bad contracts, which ends up generating long delays,” he commented.

He also said that the same thing happens with water and sanitation works, among other sectors, which ends up causing a great problem for the population. “The works begin, but they are not finished.”

He therefore stressed that all the synergy that a good executing entity can generate is lacking, in clear reference to the proposal for the creation of a Ministry of Infrastructure.

Executive proposal

Arista emphasized that the project submitted by the Executive for the creation of this new ministry contains a fundamental concept, which is separation.

"The aim of this Ministry of Infrastructure is to create an executive body, not a regulatory body. The regulatory part will be decided by each of the sectors," he said.

As an example, he mentioned that in the case of a school, issues such as the size of the school, the dimensions of the doors, the classrooms are established by the corresponding sector, in this case Education. “The executor is dedicated to developing the work,” he said.

He also commented that the recently approved Public Procurement Law provides enough room to combine different technologies and other forms of contracting, which allows for much faster and cheaper execution.

He said that currently, works take around 6 to 7 years from their conception to their execution. "This is too long a period of time to solve a need of the population," he said.