The mayor of Medellín Federico Gutiérrez responded on Tuesday, April 8, President Gustavo Petro the controversial statements he gave regarding the Colombian energy system during the Council of Ministers this Monday, April 7, in which strong accusations against EPM were made. The district president began saying that In his role as mayor and as a citizen his obligation is to defend the city’s public services company.
He also referred to the fact that EPM was one of the companies that suffered the most in the past administration, of Daniel Quinterofor the alleged acts of corruption and politiquería. “It is (EPM) the company of all antioqueños, of all Medellinenses and all Colombians, is not of fico as they say (from the Petro government),” Gutiérrez said before indicating that this company is essential for the development of Medellín.
You may be interested: FACT check: Petro’s contradictory messages on energy during your Council of Ministers
The mayor recalled that in the construction of the development plan of his government, the decision to include ambitious projects and programs that could be executed, for which the contribution made by EPM through transfers were taken. “We cannot be waiting for the resources of the national government that will not arrive,” he added.
In this regard, Gutiérrez said last year historical transfers of EPM were achieved for the city, the highest in history, They amount to $ 2.6 billion. He added that these resources have been allocated to the entire population and not to a few families, since he recalled that this is invested in social programs as a good beginning, the repair of road mesh, the elderly, the sport, the culture, the food of the children, among others. “That is what they do not understand in the national government, it hurts what works in the country and here EPM does work,” he said.
Also, during his speech, which he does this morning at the Council of Medellín, he added: “EPM is a 100 % public company, this is a unique model, which provides good quality of public services, With the challenges ahead, and the resources of the profits are transferred to all citizens, not to the richest family or four or five shareholders. ”
Find out: the millionaire losses that affinia and tigo give EPM
On the other hand, Gutiérrez recalled that if Hidroituango was not generating, a rationing in the country would have already been presented and reiterated that in 2027 the other four turbines will be delivered, whose generation will mean 17% of the country’s energy.
What did Petro and minister Palma say about EPM and the mayor of Medellín?
The mayor’s response was just one day after Petro and his minister of mines and energy, Edwin Palma, launched hard attacks on the EPM company and Gutierrez, during the Council of Ministers in which the issue of energy rates in Colombia was addressed.
Among the messages they gave there were criticisms of the country’s energy model that, according to Palma, “has to change and has to be reviewed because it has been back to users.” The portfolio chief also referred to affinia, recalled that This is a subsidiary of EPM, a company of which the owner is “is practically FICO (Mayor Gutiérrez)”, whom he accused of opposition leader and “off complete neighborhoods.”
Read more: despite Affinia red balance it already reaches $ 2.4 billion, the Petro government turned check for just 3% of the debt
Subsequently, Petro said that in the country’s energy system “they are scamming to the nation and the Colombian people.” However, neither his minister Palma said that, despite challenges such as droughts, accidents in central and in general climate change, the country has maintained a reliable electrical system. In fact, Colombia is the only country that has not had rations in the last 30 years, this while it does not have the highest prices, they are barely prices on the average of the region.
Also read: Petro government debt pulse with subsidies grows: on the Caribbean coast they admitted popular action
After knowing these statements, several voices criticized not only those qualifying to the EPM Energy System, but also that the company invested $ 2.7 billion in four years of operation of that subsidiary in the Caribbean. “If we compared those investments with those made by other companies in the last ten years, we almost tripled them, those companies invested about 900,000 million pesos,” said John Maya, EPM manager.
The question that has hindered the efficiency of that company is due to two situations: what the collection company and the losses that suppose, The manager also recalled, who said that while the company invests $ 100 for energy purchase, it only recovers 78 pesos and loses the remaining.
In addition, the manager explained that There are six municipalities that have been paying the company for more than five years. AFINIA sought payment agreements; However, they continued breaking, so they began to “take actions”.
A large part of these credits corresponds to the slope of the government for subsidies in energy rates for strata 1, 2 and 3. The pending balance for affinia is $ 650,000 million. And for the EPM group it is $ 1.2 billion.
Nonetheless, He also caught the attention that affinia management was questioned in the Council of Ministers, but paradoxically neither Petro nor Palma referred to the controversy unleashed by the appointment of Jorge Carrillo, former manager of EPM in the administration of Daniel Quintero, as president of ISA, Even when specialized tags firms warned that it did not meet the requirements for such an important function and left it among the last evaluated.
Continue reading: “We demand that the National Government out its debt”: Medellín councilors question inspection of EPM
In the end, by alleged order of the president of Ecopetrol, Ricardo Roa, Carrillo ended up in the final deck and being elected president, thanks to the votes of the members of the oil company in the Junta de Isa. A widely questioned fact even by shareholders of the company, who in the assembly held a few weeks ago caught attention to the way in which the corporate governance has been affecting.
You may be interested, in video, “the hatred that Petro has for Antioquia is very evident”: Federico Gutiérrez
