NGO highlights lack of information on El Salvador infrastructure projects

Salvadoran NGO Acción Ciudadana presented its annual study on transparency in public infrastructure projects which highlights the lack of information related to certain works and the refusal of Nayib Bukele’s administration to provide it. 

The study seeks to determine the extent to which relevant institutions facilitated access to public information under the freedom of information law.

Acción Ciudadana, which promotes political reforms, transparency, accountability and citizen participation, said the state institutions generally show a lack of compliance with their legal obligation to publish official data related to the projects they develop.

A total of 23 infrastructure projects were analyzed, some of them classed as priorities in the 2023 budget, including:

El Salvador’s national library – donated by China.

El Salvador hospital

Center for terrorism confinement 

Francisco Morazán viaduct and expansion of highway CA01W 

San Miguel beltway

Pacific train (first stage)

Expansion of Acajutla port

National stadium – built in cooperation with China 

El Chaparral hydroelectric dam

The NGO filed 11 information requests related to the projects and looked for information on the websites of related agencies.

The findings show the government denied the requests related to projects built in cooperation with China. In the case of the national stadium, authorities said the information requested does not exist due to the investment, procurement and construction being in the hands of the Chinese government. The culture ministry said all information related to the construction of the national library is confidential from August 2021 for seven years. 

The NGO says the projects with the highest degree of transparency are those financed by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei), like the construction of schools and sports centers. 

Nevertheless, 14 of the 23 projects obtained zero points in what the NGO calls “active transparency” – when information is already published on websites or official sources – and 17 obtained zero points in “reactive transparency” – when information is provided upon request.  

“The tendency among the institutions responsible for large public works is the excessive and frequently unjustified use of reserved information. Such measures are decreed for long periods and they are usually renewed,” Acción Ciudadana states in the results. 

Because of the low levels of transparency of institutions in charge of public infrastructure, Acción Ciudadana said the country is on “red alert due to the risks caused by information hiding, which impedes the detection of possible acts of corruption.”