Dalton Narváez: Those responsible for having received so many millions and not having provided Durán with water must respond

The mayor of Durán, Dalton Narváez (PSC), and his predecessor, the correista Alexandra Arce, now an assembly member for Guayas, have been called to render a version in the provincial prosecutor’s office, which investigates alleged irregularities detected by the State Comptroller General’s Office, which reviewed the contract that Arce signed in 2014 with the Eseico company, headed by Ramiro Galarza, for $ 20’171,441 for the “improvement and optimization of the drinking water supply system”, and which Narváez unilaterally terminated.

That investment, according to the contract, in 540 days was to be translated into “the definitive solution” to the lack of piped water in the fifth most populous canton in the country, but that has not happened despite spending more than $ 32 million .

Narváez clarifies that he went to the Prosecutor’s Office on December 21 as a complaining authority, not as a defendant, because the money was spent on the Arce administration, which is scheduled for tomorrow.

The Comptroller’s Office details in a 55-page report that the work in question was carried out without planning, with incomplete studies, and points out that former mayor Arce and other officials caused economic damage to the Municipality of Durán.

Why does the Prosecutor’s Office ask for your statement if you were the one who requested the intervention of the Comptroller’s Office?

Because I have been the whistleblower. And I am going to ratify what I have said, to provide the necessary evidence. The current municipal administration, upon reaching its management, found many irregularities at the level of competition and sustainability of water and sewerage. For this reason, under due process as public servants, a special examination was requested from the Comptroller’s Office.

After the request we made, the Comptroller’s Office within its powers has observed the process, inquiries that have led to an investigation by the State Attorney General’s Office and that correspond to the municipal period 2013-2019 (of Alexandra Arce), not to my management.

They call me because I am the current authority and represent the Municipality, not because I have something to do with that failed process. The authorities are responsible for action or omission, and in this case I have acted requesting the intervention of the control entities.

The Comptroller’s report talks about failures and overpricing

They offered to do four new wells, but they did not do one, they did something that they called ‘repowering’, which was to build some pipelines that are rarely called next to those that already were and that have completed their useful life. We find that with flaws, but we repair them as much as possible and we get on with it. They also received money for another contract for networks, which was another great deception to the population and the state credit institutions.

In the coop. June 5, where we are making sidewalks and paving streets, there the meters do not work and the networks do not exist. Who was the contractor? Eseico again, and we had to unilaterally terminate that contract as well.

That work cost 17 million and the previous administration must also answer for it. Those responsible for having received so many millions and not having provided Duran with water must answer.

What has the Municipality done to seek redress for the breached contract?

The reparation to the city, for breach of the contract, will be defined by the results of the investigation of the Prosecutor’s Office and subsequent rulings of the courts.

Meanwhile, we have held multiple meetings with multilateral organizations in order to obtain the credits that allow the development of the Master Plan in the city of Durán. We have six old wells working, which we maintain, but they could collapse at any moment, because their useful life has already been reached, so we need the construction of the four new wells that were not built.

Have you been able to get funding for that?

Since the end of 2019, the current municipal administration has been managing financing both for the ‘Plan Choque’ project program, as well as for what the previous municipal administration did not execute. Unfortunately, no one had the ability to predict the future and the real impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world economy, which has slowed down the financing process, both nationally (with the EDB) and internationally (Sovereign Guarantee for international credits).

The previous administration acted in such bad faith that this has affected our credit line with CAF, because what was not refundable now is, because it is established in this way when what has been promised to do is not fulfilled.

You also point against the Development Bank of Ecuador (BDE) why?

The BDE is also guilty of not monitoring and supervising the work where there are resources of the people.

I agree to comply with the CAF and pay what was not refundable, because the regulations are to comply with them, but we ask that they do not block us with the credits that we are requesting. We have presented studies to change the networks of the five stages of El Recreo, where the water arrives every day, but the 85% that becomes undrinkable is lost due to the age of those networks that have been there since that sector was created (in 1996).

But now Durán has to pay more than $ 32 million, which if they had done the works well today would be non-refundable.

How has all this affected the distribution of water in Durán? And how do they plan to fix it?

Failure to meet the objectives of the “mega-project” promised by the previous administration leads the city to continue operating with inefficient infrastructure (at the level of losses) and that has already completed its useful life, which leads to discontinuous service and coverage that it does not exceed 53% by 2021. As a definitive solution to be implemented by the municipal administrations after gradually obtaining due financing, we have what is stipulated in the Master Plan for the next 30 years, which consists of building 10 new wells in the future. For that we need private investment. We are going to launch the first phase of the Master Plan next year.

This week we have almost completed the study for the four new wells that were not made and that we urgently need, with their respective aqueduct that must be connected to the one that comes from Chobo (the rural parish of Milagro where the water extracted by Durán is ).

For the four new wells we need about $ 8 million and for the change of networks in El Recreo it is $ 13 million, that is important because 85% of the water that is lost today is recovered there.

We want to sign an agreement with the CAF and the BDE to pay what became reimbursable to us, when it was not, due to the irresponsibility of the past administration. They are almost $ 13 million that were not in the budget and that now have to be paid.

After the Prosecutor’s Office called to render versions, the former mayor denounces that municipal land is being sold. That’s right?

The lady wants to divert attention, she has to answer where are the more than $ 32 million she received if the system does not work, that is a serious crime. They have to answer for the money of the people, you cannot play with Durán’s hope.

But see, any audit can come. We have a surplus of municipal land that the Law authorizes to sell; and in times of crisis you have to optimize and be creative.

I’m not going to have land dumped when there are neighbors who want to invest to expand their projects. They are not green areas, but the Law prohibits selling them, be careful! We comply with due process: a report, the vote of the Cantonal Council, which the majority voted in favor, the respective payment that enters the Municipality and that money is reinvested in services and works. We have to optimize the budget. I do not sell green areas, do not lie, and answer for the money that the BDE gave you for water! (I)