The Federal Government Validated the Master Plan of Pilcomayo "Without an In-Depth Understanding"
<p style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Although the Government knew that without the participation of the provinces involved in the course of the river they can’t solve the key problems of the Pilcomayo, it still approved the proposal without strategic planning districts in-depth understanding of its content. This was explained by the National Audit adding that the construction work was canceled.</span></p> <div> </div>
The Federal Government "validated the Master Plan before the Pilcomayo River Basin provinces: Formosa, Salta, and Jujuy had an in-depth understanding." This was stated by the General Audit Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish) in its report published in May of this year.
In 1995, the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay, countries through which the river runs signed a constituent agreement that gave birth to the Tri-National Commission for the Development of the Basin.
The Master Plan, in regard to the Commission mentioned above is a five-year program in which actions, like for example, "the use and efficient management of water resources in the Pilcomayo River Basin" are formulated. One of its premises is that "solutions to the core problems can only be implemented in an effective and sustainable way if stakeholders participate and contribute." However, the jurisdictions involved "raised the need for knowledge of the Master Plan and greater participation in the process of developing the Global Operating Plan (POG) and Annual Operating Plans (AOP)."
Regarding the provincial participation, the auditors stated that the Interjurisdictional Commission stressed that Argentina, under the Tri-National Commission, aims to "propose an integrated and sustainable management of water resources in the activities that take place" through the representation of our country. However, the AGN noted that this Commission that makes districts participate "was launched after the processing and analysis of the Master Plan."
The watchdog added that this action "did not address the principle of prior consultation and the specific representation of the provinces in the water management of shared water resources."
Stagnant Activities
During the fieldwork that analyzed 2007 to 2009, the audit team examined different annual work plans, including covering the May to December 2007 period. The audit found that the project’s "approval was delayed, consequently affecting the schedule of planned activities and causing a delay in the execution and cancellation of other tasks". The report cites examples such as "the implementation of a modern irrigation system and a system of distribution of household water in Paraguay," among others.
In addition, the auditors identified “no progress activities” such as:
• Data Center Monitoring and measuring the hydrological variables and the amount of water: "should have started in September 2009."
• Planning and management of water resources aimed at attracting international and domestic capital to finance projects: AGN directly states that “designing a strategy for raising funds was never initiated”.
• Sustainability: Task involves developing and implementing a program to sensitize civil society for the watchdog this activity "should already have been completed."