Mexican opposition candidate outlines water, infra plans

Xóchitl Gálvez, the opposition candidate for Mexico's presidential election, has outlined her infrastructure and water plans should she emerge victorious in the June 2 vote.

The plans hinge on having private sector construction companies carrying out infrastructure projects again instead of using the armed forces, as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's government has preferred to do, and promoting the use of treated water to help resolve water shortages. 

During her participation in the 30th construction conference hosted by the Mexican construction chamber (CMIC), Gálvez said she would create a national infrastructure department to plan, supervise and assess public works so they can be carried out effectively and efficiently. 

“Never again will public money be squandered due to improvisation, whims or presidential interference in infrastructure works .... The management of this department office will be assigned to a board formed by faculties, engineering schools, professional colleges, members of chambers like CMIC and lawmakers responsible for approving the initiatives that we will present,” she declared. 

Gálvez also criticized the use of the military and the navy to build and/or manage big infrastructure projects like the Maya train, the Tehuantepec interoceanic corridor and various airports.

“I support the military engineers, but now it seems that every project is classified as being for national security. They do this so they don’t need to have accountability or transparency in the use of public funds,” she said.  

According to the candidate, who will represent the opposition coalition Frente Amplio por México, the country needs to invest 120bn pesos (US$7.1bn) in water projects to address the droughts and water shortages that have been reported in several states. 

The focus will also be on promoting the use of water-saving domestic fixtures, improving the Cutzamala system that supplies the Mexico valley in which the capital lies, upgrading the Los Berros water treatment plant, completing the water supply project in the Laguna region and carrying out projects to supply Jalisco and Guanajuato states, as well as Baja California state. 

“There will be mass recharging of the country's aquifers with treated wastewater … we will invest heavily in water treatment and upgrade water treatment plants that are no longer operating,” she said. 

“Our proposal will also include making agricultural water use more efficient and treating 80% of the wastewater produced in the country.” 

Contrary to what the government candidate and favorite Claudia Sheinbaum has stated, Gálvez said she is not backing the revival of the project to build an international airport in Texcoco, and said she is considering a plan to turn the area into a water storage zone to supply the Mexico City metropolitan area. 

Gálvez also promised to revamp Puerto Escondido airport in Oaxaca state and invest in the ports on the Yucatán peninsula, particularly Progreso port, as well as constructing a new port in Colima state and modernizing Mazatlán port, both on the Pacific coast. She said would also promote the refurbishment of hospitals and schools, create a mass public transportation system in the east of Mexico state, although she provided no further details, and create a national mobility fund.

“Municipalities and local governments will have access to funds that allow them to comply with the mobility general law … to have safe cycling lanes, accessible sidewalks, safe road infrastructure and safe pedestrian infrastructure,” she said.

Gálvez also criticized the fact the that 80% of infrastructure contracts during the current administration had been awarded directly and only 20% were awarded through bidding processes, underscoring that her government would carry out most tenders online to prevent corruption.

“We will change that and carry out 80% of bidding processes online. There will be no more bribery because everyone has told me that corruption is worse than ever these days.”