Paralysis in ESSA

Unassailable, the presidential instructions must be carried out as soon as possible. And in the times of the Fourth Transformation, there are no valid excuses: if an official is unable to comply with them —regardless of the reason— he is separated from his position.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised the people of South California that the Exportadora de Sal —located in Guerrero Negro— would once again reach its maximum production levels (eight million metric tons per year), with the consequent economic and social benefits to one of the most isolated from the peninsula. Since he instructed the reconfiguration of that parastatal company, three general directors and two economic secretaries have passed.

Raquel Buenrostro became the owner of SE last October and was able to attend a meeting of the Board of Directors of ESSA until December 15. The report presented by the director, Raúl Castro Morones, made no reference to the collapse of the raw material transfer operations in El Chaparrito, the port from which the transport departs for Cedros Island, where the vessels contracted by It lowers Bulk Carriers with industrial salt to its final destination: the Mitsubishi Corporation warehouses.

But the vessels contracted by the Japanese firm have suspended their operations. Residents of Mulegé and ex-employees of the state-owned company have been reporting —since December 22— an “atypical” pile of salt that coincides with the reduced activity of two barges and two tugboats. At the close of this week, reports of a probable overflow of salt.

Atypical reports that go against the ESSA programmatic indicators for fiscal year 2022, which contemplated specific actions to optimize maritime transport processes to Morro Redondo. At the end of the year, 3,200 hours were contemplated for the shipment of industrial salt and 1,600 hours in the unloading of 7.5 million tons of salt.

ESSA’s board of directors had authorized the acquisition of seven belt conveyors for the stacking area on Cedros Island. The replacement of obsolete equipment has been a constant intention, but partially executed. The purchase of a 5,300-horsepower tugboat became a priority, after the frustrated renewal of the fleet scheduled in 2014, which left a 41-year-old vessel in operation. In the 2013 Public Account, the Superior Audit of the Federation warned about the risk of operational paralysis due to the use of obsolete equipment.

The purchase of the Cormoran and Megalodón barges, semi-new, in 2011, generated observations from that supervisory body. However, the previous director of ESSA, Gregorio Cavazos Rodríguez, subrogated the transport service to METRA, a company from Monterrey.

The SFP filed three criminal complaints; two for the purchase of the tugboats and another, for the alleged falsification of documents for which members of the board of directors would have been responsible. In the reports on the financial situation of ESSA, at the end of the third quarter of 2022, at least 21 litigations are registered, of which four are commercial and could demand disbursements for 11,942 million pesos

Side effects

influences. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is ranked 14th in the Twiplomacy Ranking of World Leaders 2022 of the global communication agency BCW. This ranking on digital diplomacy is headed by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, followed by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

alberto.aguirre@eleconomista.mx