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Proceso 1153
July 13, 2005
ISSN 0259-9864
Editorial: The problem of the public transportation system
Politics: Political considerations about the crisis of the public transportation system
Economy: How much will the subsidy cost for the
businessmen of
the public transportation system?
The problem of the public transportation system
The Salvadoran society has an endless list of problems.
All of them affect the individual and the public life. Undoubtedly, those
problems have to be confronted, and at least the rough edges have to be sanded.
We cannot keep dreaming about a solution: the problems of the Salvadoran society
cannot be solved all at once or in the short-term. It is necessary to bet for
immediate solutions for the problems that affect the daily lives of the people,
although the structural aspects might not be included here.
Whoever is against this idea will think that sooner or later the economic
structures will have to be confronted, because they are the roots of the
problems that affect the people. This might be true; however, it is not
necessary to wait for structural changes in order to improve the lives of the
Salvadorans. While the structural aspects are on hold, the less structural
problems can be resolved.
The problem of public transportation is one of those situations that has to be
added to the list of priorities that have to be faced in the in the short and
the medium-term. The lives of thousands of people –not only the users- would be
dramatically improved if this problem were resolved as it should be. Where to
begin? The first thing that probably has to be done is to admit that the public
transportation system –because of its vicious attitude- is a focus of social
tension, violence, contamination, and chaos.
This should be the basic perspective to face the problem, a different approach
because of the following:
a. The usual politicization of the discussions (and the decisions) that involve
this sector.
b. The benefits that the owners of the system of public transportation count
with.
Because of the politicization of the problem, from the Executive power as well
as from the Legislative Assembly, the individual interests have been the
priority, and they have lost perspective of the welfare of most of the citizens.
By granting all sorts of privileges to the owners of the public transportation
system, their power has increased and they believe that they are untouchable,
that law just does not go with their lifestyle.
To resolve this problem, it is necessary to transform these conceptions.
Certainly that is not enough, but it is a first step. Because of these
privileges the public transportation system owns the streets and avenues, and
the drivers have a law of their own.
In the second place, the problem of the public transportation system should not
be seen as the action of replacing the old units with new ones, or as a matter
of increasing the bus fare or not. Both of these aspects are important, but to
reduce the debate to those problems is to lose the whole perspective of the
subject. For instance the considerable number of circulating units in certain
areas of the most important cities –especially in downtown San Salvador-, while
there are rural areas where the public transportation system does not meet the
demands of the population. It is not that practical to count with new bus units
if they will be concentrated in the same areas, crowding the public spaces,
polluting the environment, using the combustible, and creating unnecessary
social tension. It is not much to count with new bus units if those that will
drive them are potential delinquents, a group of drivers used to treat the users
and the people in general with violence without no one trying to stop this kind
of abusive behavior.
The problem of the public transportation system should not be seen as a matter
that has to be “negotiated” between the government and the businessmen that own
the system. The government, as the leading institution responsible for the
welfare of the society, is the one that has to create a plan to restructure the
system of public transportation (to replace the units, redistribute the routes
throughout the different areas of the country, regulate the behavior of the
drivers, among other aspects), a plan the owners of the buses should follow if
they intend to keep running their business. The government definitively has to
pay attention to the different sectors of the society to design and activate a
plan of that nature. Among those actors, the businessmen that own the public
transportation system would be one more voice among many, not the only one, nor
the leading one.
The most important voice here should be the voice of the citizens, their
interests and their welfare should be considered by the government as the
fundamental objective of the urgent plan to restructure the system of public
transportation.
Political considerations about the crisis of the public transportation system
Even the political adversaries agree on something: the
appreciations of the increasing prices of petroleum and its effect over the
increasing cost of the country’s production process. The increase in the bus
fare is the most visible element of all this. A transcendental element for the
energy that makes the Salvadoran economy work. For years, the price of black
gold has reached dangerous numbers for the health of the national economy.
The second aspect that the political authorities that have interfered in the
problem of public transportation have in common is their reductive vision of
politics and a short-term perspective of the issue. ARENA, the PCN, and the FMLN
shake hands in this line. The rest of the political actors simply have covered
their faces, as they usually do in these cases when it is not about assigning
seats in the Public Administration System or making sure about certain
privileges for their closest collaborators. They have been silent about the
problem of transportation. They have not raised their voices to denounce the
disrespecting attitude against the common sense that the Executive power shows
with its alleged negotiations with the businessmen that own the public
transportation system.
The left-wing party, as well as the PCN have the organizations that follow them
inside the transportation system union. These parties defend the cause of these
businessmen in the Legislative Assembly. From there, the PCN (a congressman of
this party has been identified as a member of the public transportation’s
businessman) and the FMLN have collaborated to disarticulate any effort to
control the disorders in the public transportation system.
The first opportunity failed
The apparent impunity of the owners of the public transportation system is due
to the incapacity of the politicians to confront the problem. A sort of
political clientele has been created between the businessmen and certain
politicians. The latter make sure of the loyalty of the former, which is quite a
“helping hand” when it comes to carry their sympathizers to the voting centers.
That is why, in spite of the critics of the business elite, that consider
themselves more modern in their commercial actions, ARENA has never seriously
analyzed the idea to resolve the problem of the chaos inside the public
transportation system.
Taking advantage of the circumstances, the transportation unions have organized
themselves as authentic pressure groups to neutralize any transformations in
their system. The complicity of the authorities, on the one hand, and the fact
that they feel that they are able to block the economic life, on the other hand,
have confronted these businessmen in the different moments they have had to face
the government. In addition, the Salvadorans know that the organized chaos has
counted with the support of more than one vice-minister of Transportation that
has found this situation very profitable.
In 2001, former president Francisco Flores had the opportunity to resolve for
once and for all the problem of public transportation. Differently from his
predecessors, who until now had been too shy before the actions of the owners of
the public transportation system, Flores decided to have a direct approach. He
was never impressed by the threats of making a strike planned by the owners of
the buses. He eliminated the subsidy for the transportation business, keeping
the bus fare steady. The former president indicated that this kind of subsidy
was unnecessary for a group of inept and abusive businessmen. In addition,
Flores criticized the sense of corruption created when the State began to
subsidize the bus fare of the public transportation system.
Flores took advantage of a conjunction of civilian indignation to take away the
privileges of a union that acted against the values of the people. Before the
determination of the government and the people’s generalized sense of hatred,
the owners of the transportation system had to accept the governmental reforms.
For the first time, in a long time, this union was in a disadvantageous
position.
However, as it happened with all of the subjects that the former president took
care of during his administration, the alleged reform of the public
transportation system was nothing but an egg shell without any substance that
could not see beyond the adoption of a set of authoritarian measures. It was
already necessary that these unscrupulous businessmen that cause pain with their
violence were sanctioned. In fact, that was the reaction of most Salvadorans
about the issue. However, Flores, as the president, had to think beyond a sense
of revenge, and offer an integral reform that would lead to a long-term solution
of the problem.
However, such a transcendental solution did not cross Flores’ mind or his
advisors’. His proposal to restructure the public transportation system did not
last longer than what it took the public opinion to accommodate itself to the
new ways of daily abuse committed by the public transportation system. The plan
created by Flores rewarded the pacific transportation people in order to also
punish those that had acted against him. He bought several buses that were
already useless according to the transportation law, and allowed the PCN and the
FMLN to extend the permits of circulation for units that were in deteriorated
conditions as well.
From a constitutional perspective, Flores had enough power to end with the
mistakes of these parties that acted according to the interests of the owners of
the public transportation system. Both of these parties did not count with a
qualified majority in the Parliament. In addition, as he showed it during his
administration, he was willing to veto any political initiative of the
opposition that he might not agree with. That is why if he allowed the FMLN and
the PCN to do what they did it was because the solution to the transportation
problem was not a priority in his governmental plans. By the way, that
administration never had any priorities at all. Improvisation ruled in any
long-term plan designed to allegedly resolve the problems of the country.
Did Saca miss his second chance?
Saca inherited from his predecessor the same chaos that characterized the
performance of the system of national transportation. In addition, the new
President has to face now this conjunction with the increasing prices of
petroleum. The first time that the transportation system increased, without the
authorization of the State, the price of the bus fare, the President accepted
the measure. Although he deceived the Salvadorans by saying that he had managed
to reduce the fare that the businessmen asked for. In the second occasion, Saca
had to announced that he wanted to go back to the former system of subsidies,
that system criticized by Flores.
However, beyond the specific measures that the government adopts to face the
high prices of the hydrocarbons in the international market, Saca has his hands
tied up. On the one hand, he admits that the owners of the public transportation
system do need to increase their profits because of the increasing prices of
petroleum. On the other hand, as a good populist, Saca is concerned about the
possible effect on the population if the bus fare increases. With all the
paraphernalia about a government with human sense and the up-coming legislative
and municipal elections, it would be a problem to increase the bus fare. In
addition, a propaganda about a government that protects the people from the
greediness of the businessmen would just sound like another lie, as it happened
last year, when the government approved the increase in the bus fare.
Therefore, in order to satisfy at the same time all of the interests, Saca has
to return to the activities that, according to the former president, intensify
the sense of corruption. However, in the end, these measures do betray the
incompetence of Saca to resolve the problem. In addition, they prove the reduced
political vision of the president about the energy crisis. To reestablish a
subsidy cannot be seen as nothing more than an easy solution, destined to make
the users and the businessmen feel a little happier.
The governmental team is not talking about the organization and the
modernization of the public transportation system. The proposals that have been
revealed by the press indicate that the only requirement to have access to the
subsidy is to sign a contract with the government. Without any pertinent
explanations about the specific aspects of the Plan, it can be understood that
the new contract will allow the Executive power to have a better control over
the actions of the businessmen in order to avoid any future disagreements.
The element that actually betrays the unflattering intentions of the President
is this little game played by the ministers that are supposed to negotiate with
the transportation businessmen. In fact, before some of the most important
businessmen of this field, who sympathize with the PCN and the FMLN, the
President has given more importance to the discussions with the owners of the
micro-buses. This is how he wants to be sure that these people will be
supportive when it comes to confront the owners of the buses. With this he can
not only have a better approach to a weak group, but he also gains allies that
will allow him to control any movements that might create a strike in this
sector.
However, as most Salvadorans who are accustomed to move among the jungle created
by the public transportation system know, the most dangerous means of
transportation are the microbuses. However, the President is not concerned by
this issue. What he wants is to control the problem and that the businessmen are
not able to damage his popularity. To tell the truth, Flores adopted a braver
attitude in reference to this issue. Even if he adopted a contemptuous position
towards his adversaries, he was brave enough to face the businessmen.
The way Saca has conducted himself is one more sample of the damage that his
populism can cause in the most general interests of the country. Before a
crucial problem that requires long-term solutions, the President chooses to bury
his head. This is not about determining if it is fair or not to grant some form
of subsidy to control the public transportation fares, this is actually about
examining how capable is the government to think beyond the electoral periods.
In this sense, Saca has already lost this battle.
How much will the subsidy cost for the businessmen of
the public transportation system?
The tension between the government and the businessmen of
the public transportation system seems to disappear. The Ministry of Public
Works agreed to subsidize the consumption of combustible for the buses and
microbuses. This subsidy has the objective to keep the bus fare steady, the
price it had before the petroleum prices increased. However, despite the fact
that the owners of the buses and microbuses do seem to agree with the subsidy,
they are against the conditions that the government suggests. These conditions
involve the incorporation of the buses and microbuses to the new transportation
system, which intends to improve the service.
When the bus fare was increased, the buses that traditionally charged $0.20
started charging $0.25, and the microbuses went from $0.23 to $0.29. after a
series of meetings between the government and the National Coordinator of
Transportation (CTN) –an organization that divided itself at the time of the
negotiation due to the particular interests of the unions of buses and
microbuses- they managed to establish a minimum consensus in order to be able to
subsidize the fuel. The agreement that they reached establishes that the
government will grant a subsidy of $0.50 and $0.30 per gallon of diesel for
buses and microbuses, respectively. The subsidy for the owners of the
transportations system has a limit and not all of the fuel will be subsidized.
In the case of the buses, the State is willing to subsidize the consumption of
25 gallons a day per transportation unit. For the microbuses, the subsidy is
just 15 gallons a day per transportation unit. This measure will last for one
day.
The lies to the population
In the debate between the government and the transportations businessmen, each
one of the parts involved presented its own position as the most convenient
proposal for the population. On the one hand, the government asked the
transportation businessmen not to increase the bus fare, since this measure
would affect the economy of the population. In this sense, the increase in the
bus fare was the exclusive responsibility of the owners of the buses and
microbuses. This perspective would cover-up the complicity of the government in
this situation, due to the lack of a State’s policy to face the increasing
prices of petroleum. In addition, the increase in the bus fare was just one
aspect of many that would affect the economy of the families, since the
government has not done anything to specifically control the increasing prices
of the basic food basket (CBA). The problems of the citizenry have been
intensified because, in addition, the fiscal reform has reduced the income level
of the Salvadorans.
On the other hand, the owners of the transportation system present this service
as a sector where profitability is at risk due to the increasing prices of
diesel. Before this problem, why do not they try to find new ways of becoming
competitive? Many Salvadorans would be willing to pay a little more as long as
they would get respect in return, a better service, and functional units. In
other words the owners of the transportation system should compete with a
quality service. They accused the government for not wanting to help the
population through subsidy, and they have to admit that it is the population
that is actually paying for their profitability requirements. The State if
filled with the taxes paid by the Salvadoran population, and, since in the field
of economics “there are no free lunches”, it can be said that the money that
will be granted as a subsidy has a counterpart the increasing level of taxes
through this government’s new fiscal reform. In this sense, the government is
only returning what it has taken away from the population.
The expenses of the State through subsidies
The subsidy of $0.30 per gallon of fuel would approximately favor 4,500
microbuses. Each unit would receive $135 per month, and this amount would be
subsidizing 450 gallons per unit. In other words, 15 gallons per day ($4.50
everyday, for 30 days)- the State would spend approximately $607,500 by
subsidizing 4,500 units every month. In total, it would be subsidizing the
consumption of over 2,000,000 of gallons of diesel to favor the owners of the
public transportation system. In a year, as it has been established in the
agreement, the State would pay out approximately $7.3 million every year.
In the case of the buses, it has not been already established yet how many units
will be favored with the subsidy. If it is clear that a bus will get a subsidy
of $375 per month to use a maximum of 750 gallons with the benefits brought by
the subsidy. That is $12.50 for 25 gallons a day for a period of 30 days.
According to the information of the Vice-Ministry of Transportation (VMT), the
total of buses and microbuses is 12,000 units at a national scale. Out of these,
approximately 7,000 are buses. With this piece of information it can be
estimated that the expense of the government would be $2.6 million per month in
subsidies, an equivalent to a subsidy of 5.25 million of gallons. That is, for a
year, the State would spend close to $32 million.
The government will have to take from the State approximately $40 million to
calm down for a year the demands of the owners of the transportation system. In
order to face these expenses for the next six months of the year, the government
has announced that it will pay the subsidy to the owners of the microbuses from
the profits brought in advance by the Autonomous Seaport Executive Commission (CEPA,
in Spanish) and the National Center of Registry (CNR, in Spanish), which will
participate with $1.5 million each (a total of $3 million). For the next six
months, the subsidy for microbuses will go beyond $3 million. The State will try
to get the rest of the money from budget cuts in other areas of the government.
In the case of the buses, the government still does not really know where it
will get the money for the subsidy.
Are there long-term options?
The Executive power has said that, due to the subsidy, some social projects
might be affected. That is why the government has committed itself to subsidize
the transportation system only for a year. In this period, the Executive has to
try to find other providers of petroleum or new sources of energy in order to
face the situation. The subsidy should eventually disappear in the future as
long as other opportunities to supply the need of fuel come along in the
country.
In this sense, the “National Committee of Emergency for the High Prices of
Petroleum” –an organization created last week by the President- does not have to
focus only in the creation of measures connected with saving fuel. This is all
right, but it is not enough to face the problem. The commission can establish
contacts with Venezuela since this country offers attractive financing
conditions. Hugo Chávez has said that if the prices of petroleum go over $50 per
barrel, as it happens at present, Venezuela, the fifth in the list of exporters
in a world wide level, will finance 40% of the petroleum invoice. And if the oil
goes up to $100, it would finance 50% of the invoice to the countries for a
period of one or two years.
In addition, it is necessary to finish the bio-diesel plant that the government
of Finland will donate. According to Yolanda de Gavidia, the Minister of
Economy, the intention is to install a plant of higuerillo seeds in the east
side of the country. It is necessary as well to look for alternatives to the use
of gasoline, such as the production of sugar cane. This has to be done as soon
as possible, since the subsidy for the transportation system will only last for
a year, and, surely, the petroleum prices will keep increasing.
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