The crisis of the Massive Integrated of the West (MIO) seems to be more and more acute. Recently, some statements by the manager of Metrocali worried users because the future of the transportation system would be in suspense.
According to Óscar Javier Ortiz, manager of the entity, which is in charge of managing this system, the final stage of the restructuring agreement has already begun. On this, he emphasized that the maximum deadline to present it is February 10, 2023.
“The parties GIT Masivo, Metrocali and the promoter of Law 550, have been meeting to explore alternatives and be able to sign an agreement based on the user fee. We have 7% and from there a payment plan has to be originated, ”explained the official.
Likewise, he reported that Metrocali requested a three-year term to be able to pay the debt it has with the operator and that generated this crisis. In the event that the parties do not agree, then the organization would go into liquidation.
Regarding this possibility, Ortiz pointed out that “what could happen is that the operation of the system is put at risk.”
However, the official recalled that in the event that this happens, the safest thing is that the Transportation Superintendence appoints a liquidating agent and, for its part, the district administration is in charge of carrying out the entire process to establish a new system manager.
“Experts point out that if the management entity goes into liquidation, the operation must continue. We would think that the Superintendency would have to appoint a liquidator manager and the Cali Mayor’s Office would have to present a draft agreement that creates a new managing entity,” added the manager of the entity.
The headache that has been the MIO system
This mass transportation system that was implemented in Cali has been operating for more than a decade and practically from the beginning it has been permeated by various financial problems, lawsuits by operators, and constant complaints from users about poor service.
The demand of the operator GIT Masivo for non-payment, for almost 200 billion pesos, led Metrocali to take advantage of the restructuring of liabilities since 2019. With this, as Ortiz mentioned, it seeks to find alternatives to cancel the obligations and not affect users.
To reach a break-even point and be able to comply with the obligations, the system should mobilize some 600,000 users daily; However, the maximum it has reached is 450,000 in 2019. After the covid-19 pandemic and the national strike in 2021, the situation worsened and currently no more than 250,000 would be mobilizing.
It is worth remembering that a few weeks ago the Attorney General’s Office had to intervene to prevent the MIO system from going out of business. At that time, he reported that the Mayor’s Office and Metrocali disbursed a significant sum of money as a contribution to the million-dollar debt that exists with the operators.
“At the tables set up, the Mayor’s Office of Cali and Metrocali made disbursements of 24,000 million pesos as a contribution to the debt, thus avoiding a possible crisis in the service,” said the Public Ministry.
Finally, it is also important to remember that a project is currently being carried out in accordance with the Cali Council. Its objective, according to Ortiz, is “to create the technical, financial and operational sustainability of a new public transport model for the city that is obviously based on the importance of the user”. with Infobae