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Temporary Agricultural Workers Program TAWP Agreement
Legal Feasibility and the Proposal of Emergency Rescue Plan for Road Infrastructure Policy.
The Political Constitution of the Republic, the Public Order Law and the Public Contracting Law contain the legal basis for this proposal. In this regard, a "state of calamity" is that State of Emergency that can be decreed by the Executive Branch to avoid the damages caused by any calamity. Given that the definition of calamity is considerably broad, the approval of a State of Calamity would be constitutionally valid, provided the reasons that justify it are clearly stated. In this case, the justification lies in the obstacle to the economic development of the country that the deteriorated infrastructure represents. Once it is decreed by the Executive Body, the Congress of the Republic must approve it, modifying it if deemed necessary.
The State of Calamity would be declared in order to be able to execute the Road Development Plan 2018-2032 of the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing, allowing the emergency contracting for reconstruction, repairing and maintenance works in the roads, through an agile and transparent contracting process that guarantees competition between potential contractors.
The proposal includes mechanisms that guarantee the existence of available budget credits and correct budget execution in accordance with the Budget Law, such as certifications of budget and financial availability.
As a transparency mechanism, it is proposed to use as a basis the one implemented for the emergency of the tropical storm Agatha in 2010, establishing that all contracts must have a photographic record, a chronological record of the executed work, and a certification of the damage to be repaired.
In addition to the audit of the Comptrollership of Accounts, it would be mandatory to compy with the Principles for Open Contracting of the Open Contracting Partnership and the disclosure parameters of the CoST Transparency Initiative contemplated in the Public Contracting Law.
