Controversy: A senior Defense official's statement regarding Bahía Blanca's bridge claim
Guillermo Madero , undersecretary of civil defense and humanitarian protection at the Ministry of Defense, responded this Friday to statements by the Secretary of Public Works of Bahía Blanca, Gustavo Trankels , who said that the government charged him a "million-dollar" payment to maintain the emergency bridges installed after the storm in March.
"If not, they would have taken them away," the Bahía Blanca official had stated in an interview with local media outlet La Brújula, stating that to continue providing the service, the municipality was required to pay an approximate sum of $17 million for each infrastructure project. However, Madero denied his statements and maintained that "it is false that the Armed Forces are going to remove the mobile bridges."
“Once the crisis was over, a non-commercial agreement was signed to maintain its operation, as established by Law 20,459 for decades,” the official wrote on his X account. In addition, he crossed out to the government of the province of Buenos Aires: “While the Kicillof government spends billions on propaganda and gender policies, the Forces build the Homeland with actions, not with speeches.”
Defense sources told LA NACION that they acted immediately when the storm hit the Buenos Aires city and installed, within hours, two mobile bridges with 36-meter ramps, "to ensure communication, the transport of supplies, and assistance to residents." This infrastructure was deployed, they said, free of charge and through the signing of two 90-day contracts.
"Once the deadline had passed and the emergency was over, the Kirchnerist mayor himself requested that the bridges remain in place. In response to this request, and in accordance with the current legal framework, the Army signed an agreement with the municipality establishing a minimum maintenance fee , necessary to maintain the structures' operational capacity and ensure their availability in the event of future emergencies throughout the country," stated the Ministry of Defense.
According to Trankels, this is an agreement with the Nation, through the Ministry of Defense, headed by Luis Petri, which requires the municipality to pay approximately 17 million pesos for each bridge, plus an additional maintenance fee.
However, the national ministry indicates that this fee "is not a commercial charge, but rather a common mechanism." They even point out that similar agreements have been signed with various provinces, which remain in effect to this day.
In this context, Madero highlighted, in his publication this Friday, the importance and economic cost assumed by the national government: "The Forces invested more than one billion pesos, and the Federal Emergency Agency contributed 200 billion pesos for assistance."
This isn't the first time that the municipality headed by Federico Susbielles (Unión por la Patria) has demanded funds and public works from the government to mitigate the effects of that storm. However, the Executive branch vetoed the bill, approved by both chambers of Congress, in late June. The bill included a special $200 billion fund for the city and also allocated funds to the town of Coronel Rosales.
To justify its veto of the assistance law voted on by Congress, the government argued that the approved bill did not specify "what the source of funding should be to cover the expenditures provided for therein."
The national deputy of Union for the Homeland, Victoria Tolosa Paz , targeted Milei through X, whom she accused of “finding a business” in a need.
"The fact that Milei's government is charging rent for the emergency bridges in Bahía Blanca, after a devastating flood, is yet another example of its cruelty and contempt for the people ," he posted.
And he added: "Emergency bridges are not a business; they are vital infrastructure to assist and save lives. The State should be there to help, not to bill people for their pain."
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