A new El Salvador Watch column highlighting progressive change in El Salvador’s social ministries  

Notoriously the most corrupt ofministries under ARENA party leadership over the last 20 years, the Ministry ofPublic Works has begun to truly fulfill its function under the new direction ofPresident Funes’ appointed minister, long-time FMLN leader Gerson Martínez.Socially responsible infrastructure that supports economic growth for rural andurban communities is the theme of the Ministry of Public Works in the era of ElSalvador's first leftist government. The ministry, known as “MOP” (Ministeriode Obras Públicas), has its work cut out for it: A system of crumblinghighways, aging bridges that no longer clear El Salvador's rivers – manyswollen by global warming – and a severe deficit of quality housing forSalvadorans are some of the most pressing challenges to face. 

Straight out of the gate, the newminister was thrown a crisis with Hurricane Ida tearing through El Salvadorlast November, destroying bridges, burying communities, and razing homes. Theextent of destruction caused by Ida is itself a testament to irresponsible andpoorly designed bridge, highway and housing projects sponsored by the ARENA-eraMOP. In fact, El Salvador's current “qualitative and quantitative” housingproblem is clearly linked to the thousands of families displaced by naturaldisasters over the past 30 years who were then handed shoddily-constructed“temporary” housing that has become permanent. Worse still, many were never providedany replacement housing at all. In contrast, the families who lost their homesto Ida are temporarily residing in provisional housing as their permanent newhomes are built on lands deemed safe for El Salvador's 6-month rain andhurricane season. In addition to Ida reconstruction, there are 25,000 new homesunder construction through the “Casa para Todos” (“A house for everyone”)program, and subsidies are available to assist aspiring home-buyers who earnthe minimum wage or less. 

The Funes Administration hasemphasized the importance of building roads to serve rural communities,especially in the northern zone of the country. In many areas, treacherous dirtroads have been the norm for decades. The lack of serviceable infrastructurefor ground transport significantly impacts local economies and restrictsresidents’ travel to cities, other towns or even nearby villages, be it formedical care, to sell farm products, or to vote. Under Minister Martínez, MOPhas already begun working with long-neglected rural municipalities to paveimportant travel routes that connect communities and link to major highways.

Moreover, the ministry is pushingfor the Northern Highway project, funded by Millennium Challenge Corporation(MCC) grants from the U.S. government, to benefit the rural communities.Originally, El Salvador’s rural northern communities agreed to the centralhighway on the condition that 4 feeder highways would be built as part of theproject, to ensure that large and small population centers would have easyaccess to the central highway.  Nowthat the northern highway is near completion, the MCC claims that there is nofunding for the feeder roads, leaving local communities questioning for whomthe highway was really built. However, the new MOP has picked up where the MCCfailed to provide. The MOP has drawn up project plans and mobilized machines,materials and workers for the feeder highways. The final piece is the funding,which the minister has aggressively sought from U.S.-based international bankinginstitutions.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to makeplans but difficult to make these plans a reality with a Salvadoran Stateseverely indebted to international banks, limited tax and trade revenues, and aheavy dependence on international loans to finance projects. Nonetheless,Minister Martínez will not take no for an answer. “Not having money is notenough of an excuse,” the minister said during a recent visit to Washington,D.C. “Why did we come to power if we’re not going to make changes?”

This can-do attitude has alreadytranslated into pragmatic, resourceful initiatives in the first year of theFunes Administration: using military officers to guard construction sitesinstead of hiring private security firms, thereby saving millions in governmentfunds a year; employing at-risk youth to build much-needed parts for publicsewer systems, offering options to youth facing unemployment in gang-saturatedcommunities. One of the most striking MOPprograms is shocking in its simplicity: to retrofit public hospitals to bewheelchair accessible and build “sensory pathways” for the blind, providinggreater access to the very people who depend on hospital services.  It is hard to imagine how a publichospital would not already be so equipped, and the new MOP’s correction of thisARENA-era “oversight” exemplifies the new, people-centered programming at theheart of the Funes and FMLN model of governance. Gerson Martinez’s MOP istackling the big picture needs and the small, important details of makingpeople’s lives easier – all of which is necessary for El Salvador to thrive andgrow into the future.