EL PILÓN: In what condition did Eliecer Salazar act in the processing and approval of the National Development Plan?
Eliécer Salazar: Eliécer Salazar was appointed speaker coordinator of the National Development Plan for the presentation of the first and second debate and for the defense of the PND in the general plenary session of the House of Representatives.
How were the activities, in commissions and in plenary, in their process and what alliances or coalitions were woven?
We have been working since February 20 as speaker coordinators, approximately 30 congressmen, including senators and representatives, we were 8 coordinators and 22 speakers, from all the benches (liberal, conservative, the U, Historical Pact, Green Party, etc.) and we work together, logically As you explain, an alliance is necessary to get articles where Congress disagrees, and they were surely presented by the national government. In these discussions there were eliminations of issues that we did not agree with, particularly I took the initiative to eliminate the article that removed the possibility of open-pit coal mining, this was a direct affectation to the department of Cesar, for this reason I obtained majority votes. and we were able to eliminate this initiative from the Government.
Were there alliances of congressmen from the Caribbean or the region?
Logically, in the congressmen from the Caribbean, several of us were there at the meeting of the speaker and coordinator of the speaker of the Ministry of Finance, and there was a very important alliance to move forward with regard to an article that will have an impact on the reduction of energy rates. throughout the Caribbean, which is supported that it is not possible to charge the same, in areas such as Bogotá, the center of the country, where the climate is very favorable to the Atlantic coast and surely the Pacific coast and the south of the country, where the temperature is above 30-34 degrees. That was accepted and there it is in the Development Plan. And thanks to that, they are going to begin to make the identification so that the rate in areas where the climate is cold, of course, have a value, and in areas where the climate is hot, like ours in the Caribbean, they begin to decrease their price. And the tariff systems in the country should not be handled with the same standards, as if the whole country had the same temperature.
What results were obtained for the department? Which ones would you highlight the most?
There are many important things, but I would like to highlight the projects that were listed as strategic and secured projects in the Multi-Year Investment Plan. For example, the San Roque-Valledupar-Cuestecita dual carriageway, which is a dream for the Vallenatos, Cesarenses and Guajiros. With the help of compañeros from La Guajira, we managed to carry out this initiative, such as compañero Jorge Cerchairo.
Improvement of the Ocaña-Aguachica-Gamarra corridor is a very important project and we managed to carry it out with the support of our colleague Libardo Cruz; the qualification and improvement of the Valledupar – San Juan del Cesar section, by Badillo; the intervention of the Tamalameque – Palestina – El Burro highway; Bosconia logistics center, which is a dream of Caesareans, but especially of the inhabitants of Bosconia, which was a sacred commitment to this community; the intervention via Cuatro Vientos – Chimichagua – El Banco, is deteriorating a lot and it is a national highway; the educational complex of higher education that is going to be built in Jagua de Ibirico, an initiative built in the meetings that the Government had in the mining sector, but that we leveraged and took ownership of this initiative in the meetings of speakers and speaker coordinators; the comprehensive or general intervention for the agricultural, environmental, fishing and employment generation sectors in the Zapatosa swamp complex; the decontamination of many water sources in Cesar, where I especially prioritized the Cesar River, since all the inhabitants have a historical debt with this river and we aspire that the Government implement an ambitious plan to decontaminate this river, which is so important for the department.
And lastly, (and I won’t leave it last because it’s not the most important, but because it was the last one that entered the plan), we hadn’t really been able to even in the presentation of the first and second debate, we always got in the way of interests of Minambiente, but we managed to include it in the discussion already in plenary, of the Los Besotes dam reservoir, which is a work of great impact that will allow, now different from how it was projected, to be able to save water for the vallenatos, but also to be able to think of irrigation districts for some 8,000 to 10,000 hectares, which is what we have been talking about with the national government, DNP, the interior ministry itself, and it could be a reality that this alternative would be reflected on page 108 in the strategic projects of Colombia and that it will be very favorable for our beloved city of Valledupar and the department of Cesar.