| Work Detail |
Gerardo Fernández, president of the Confederation of Construction SMEs, assured that last month there were 200 thousand jobs lost
The paralysis of public works in Argentina has generated an unprecedented crisis in the construction sector. In Círculo Político (Monday to Friday, from 2 to 4 p.m.), on CiudadanoNews 91.7, we spoke with Gerardo Fernández, president of the Confederation of Construction SMEs of the Argentine Republic (CPC) to understand the devastating consequences of this measure and the urgency to find solutions.
—What is the direct impact on employment due to the suspension of public works?
—Last month there were 200 thousand jobs lost and it is expected that this month the records will be above 250 thousand. Today we have 100% of the national public works paralyzed, in the rest of the provinces also the provincial works. In the case of Mendoza, although it is not completely paralyzed, progress is significantly slower due to lack of financing. The situation is, we dont like to use the term catastrophic, but the reality is that we are in the presence of a catastrophe in the sector.
—How has the situation been handled in the provinces?
—There are provinces in which companies have been urged to continue working for the majority of January, February I would say that there were no works in operation, they were all paralyzed in fact. Whatever it is, we try to be careful with words, but the truth is, it is difficult to find words that describe the situation. We are in absolute anarchy in the sector and this means that there are no appointed officials after 100 days. This never happened in Argentine history. We have been a business union for many years, we have been through situations of all kinds, but we have never gone 100 days without having an official, without having someone to talk to, who can say “look, dont do anything else”, “its going to paralyze”, “terminate”, “continue”, nothing, zero. There is no physical person who attends the sector. The truth is, the situation is desperate.
—I understand that, at the time the works stopped, there were about 3,000 under construction, and now the Governments contractual responsibility is coming and lawsuits are surely coming.
—It seems that the Government is not interested in the slightest, it is difficult to find qualifying adjectives that can describe what we are experiencing, there is a lot of contradiction in every area, one hears Government officials insistently defending the Tierra del Fuego system and being that there will be 3 thousand public works trials and no one cares; Later we listened throughout the campaign to a president who gave us absence of how the economy does not work due to the breach of contracts and the lack of legal security and it is the State that today is breaching the contracts and generating that legal insecurity.
Its hard to make people understand that nothing else comes in, its not that an official came and said were going to rescind this work, this one is going to continue, this one isnt, or were going to stop it, or not, that is, no one answered a question. phone. There is no designated official, no contract terminated, paralyzed. This goes beyond economics. We are in a critical situation that affects thousands of families and the countrys economy. Uncertainty persists while awaiting a response from the national government.
—Is there a certain discussion among builders, manufacturers of elements of the construction industry, if these decisions have an impact, not only in the field of construction, but also in the industry it provides and in other additional services?
-It affects. I want to make it clear that the Government is within its rights, since it has been elected. However, what we are looking for is nothing more nor less than a formal meeting in which administrative actions are taken. We need to terminate contracts, seek legal advice, sit down to resolve, pay for what has been worked, abandon works if necessary and have the government take charge.
But spending six months without being able to talk to anyone, without anyone showing their face, is something surprising. Everything that has happened so far has been, in fact, absolutely rights-free. The situation is strange and desperate. Failure to pay certificates of completed work has had cascading consequences. In September and October, companies were unable to pay suppliers what was owed.
This generated a consumption of working capital of companies and breaks in the payment chain. The collaterality is evident: less tax collection for the provincial government on gross receipts and less national income tax collection through VAT on products that were not sold. We must say that, first, the zero deficit was found at the cost of not paying the obligations incurred. It is a somewhat thankless and deceitful way. Furthermore, no one is explaining that, by not complying with obligations, companies cannot comply either. The situation is more complex than what is shown in the official celebrations.
Panorama of uncertainty
“This means that next month, as the national State and in turn the provincial states collect less money than the previous month, they must generate greater adjustments. So today we are in a reverse negative spiral.
Instead of stressing growth or stagnation, we are thinking about how to stop falling, because, in reality, the province of Mendoza, in December, collected 25% less federal co-participation in January 20 and February 17. That is, it has been falling systematically the collection of the Province.
This affects the construction industry sector, but it also indirectly affects you with the guideline, so that it is understood, the public employee, the teacher and the nurse, because the provincial government collects less money, because there is a brake on the economy, will have less income to meet its obligations. This has a very violent impact on the construction sector, but collaterally it impacts the rest of the economic activities,” Fernández explained.
And he concluded: “When we talk about construction, we refer to social support with people, we talk about wood, aggregate, cement, aluminum, steel, the corralonero, the employee who went out and on the corner bought a sandwich and a soda. All of that is not happening today and that is stopping tax collection, both for the Province and for the Nation. The question is: How does this continue? A new adjustment, what else is going to be cut, how far will the breach of contracts go?
Source: https://ciudadano.news/ |
