The Council for the Strategic Development of Santiago said late last week that it rejects the legislative bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies that would create a new municipal district, Santiago Oeste, from the Santiago areas of Cienfuegos and El Ingenio.
Juan Carlos Ortiz, the president of the council, called the measure to further divide the territory of Santiago a “populist and party-oriented” maneuver. He said: “What is required is for a hierarchical order to be established to determine the public agenda, which in the first place must attend those projects that have been duly studied and are in line with existing legislation. To dedicate resources and efforts to break up Santiago can be considered a surprise attack on the city’s governance.”
Ortiz also laid out the fact that such a measure contradicts the commitment made in 2010 by all of the legislators of the province of Santiago in order to ensure the coherence to the Strategic Plan of Santiago 2020 as well as the integrity of the territory. He added that neither the general population nor the business sector that will be affected have been consulted nor opinions been taken into consideration. He said the territorial divide is not on the development agenda of the province.
Ortiz indicated that the breakup will lead to an unnecessary duplication of costs. He said a delegation of “Commitment Santiago” that includes the presidents of the Council for the Strategic Development of Santiago, the Association of Merchants and Industrialists of Santiago, the Association of Industries of the North Region, the Santiago Chamber of Commerce, the Association for the Development of Santiago, the Association of Free Zone Companies and the Santiago Free Zone Corporation have requested to meet with the legislators to explain the reasons for their opposition to the municipal division.
Likewise, Saul Abreu, executive director of the Santiago Development Association (Apedi) disputed that the creating of the new municipal district would ensure better representation for the areas. He said there are already mechanisms in place for citizen participation and the territorial division would just mean more taxes and would not bring anything positive to the citizens. He said if this is approved by the legislature, other areas would request the same.
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Diario Libre
Listin Diario
19 November 2018
