President Javier Milei's government has ordered the "definitive" closure of the National Road Administration, the National Traffic and Road Safety Commission and the Road Safety Agency.
State agencies in charge of roads and highways will be shuttered to make way for a new entity created to oversee private road construction, Milei’s top spokesman Manuel Adorni said at a Casa Rosada press conference on Monday evening.
To replace it, Adorni said, the government will create a new body, the Agencia de Control de Concesiones y Servicios Públicos del Transporte ("Agency for the Control of Transport Concessions and Public Services"), to oversee road concessions.
As a result, the government will now "open bidding for 9,120 kilometres (5,667 miles) of roads," he added.
Adorni did not specify how many lay-offs would ensue as a result of the decisions, but he claimed the Dirección Nacional de Vialidad had been “created to facilitate” widespread graft.
“Corruption in public works has been given its death certificate, and President Javier Milei has just signed it," referring to the closure of the body, which supervises the maintenance and construction of roads and motorways.
Confirmation of the closure of the Dirección Nacional de Vialidad, Comisión Nacional del Tránsito y la Seguridad Vial and Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Vial was formalised by an announcement in Tuesday's edition of the Official Gazette.
It was accompanied by further moves to restructure at least seven other state bodies.
The measures were announced a day before special emergency powers Congress granted Milei for one year expired.
The administration has said it will not seek an extension of those powers, which enabled the Executive branch of government to take actions usually reserved for Congress.
Some 65 measures enacted during this period "represent savings of US$2 billion annually," Adorni claimed on Tuesday.
The government’s new plan for road control and management will see infrastructure design and planning pass to the Economy Ministry, with supervision and control of concessions overseen by the new state body.
Maintenance, said the government, will be carried out by another dedicated unit, with part of the work outsourced to private companies.
According to the government, the Dirección Nacional de Vialidad has more than 5,000 employees and restructuring will save the state an estimated US$100 million a year.
Chainsaw cuts
Milei, a self-declared "anarcho-capitalist," came to power in December 2023 wielding a chainsaw as a symbol of his plan to restore fiscal discipline and rein in inflation.
He has since slashed public spending by around 4.7 percent of GDP, yanked subsidies, halted public works and dismissed tens of thousands of public employees.
Milei's order to close the three agencies overseeing road maintenance and construction, traffic and road safety was criticised by the opposition.
A separate government statement on Monday also announced the restructuring of seven “inefficient” state agencies, including institutes devoted to industrial and agricultural technology.
No longer autonomous, their functions will be brought under the Economy Ministry, via the Industry & Trade Secretariat and Agriculture, Livestock & Fisheries Secretariat.
Experts have warned the changes will damage ongoing research.
Workers at the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial (National Institute of Industrial Technology, INTI) and Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (National Institute of Agricultural Technology, INTA) launched protest action on Monday, resulting in clashes with police.
Both bodies will be “downsized,” according to a government resolution, with talks of voluntary retirement plans being offered.
Other agencies eliminated include Instituto Nacional de Agricultura Familiar Campesina, the Instituto Nacional de Semillas (National Seed Institute, INASE) and the Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura (National Institute of Viticulture, INV).
"The government has declared war on civil servants and turned the state into a huge battlefield," wrote Rodolfo Aguiar, secretary general of ATE state workers union.
Last year, Argentina recorded its first budget surplus in a decade, and monthly inflation reached its lowest rate in five years at 1.5 percent in May.
But the collateral damage has been a loss of purchasing power, jobs, and consumer spending.
For months, citizens bearing the brunt of the cuts have mounted a weekly march on Wednesdays to protest the austerity measures, amid a heavy security presence.
Full list of 21 bodies affected
Argentina’s government this week formally announced the closure, merger or transformation of 21 public bodies, as part of its ongoing effort to shrink the state and cut public spending.
The move was detailed in the Official Gazette and affects agencies linked to health, transport, agroindustry, industrial policy and road safety, among other sectors.
Core responsibilities previously held by the affected organisations will be transferred to other ministries or secretariats. Staff will retain their positions until the new organisational structures are put in place.
The government said the move followed an internal review which found a sharp rise in the number of decentralised agencies and their personnel. Some bodies were found to have overlapping roles, poor internal oversight or administrative irregularities.
Dissolved agencies and their destinations
|
Body/agency |
Oversight passed to: |
|
Comisión Nacional del Tránsito y la Seguridad Vial |
Undersecretariat for Automotive Transport |
|
Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Vial (National Road Safety Agency, ANSV) |
Transport Secretariat / National Gendarmerie |
|
Dirección Nacional de Vialidad (National Highways Directorate, DNV) |
Economy Ministry / Agencia de Control de Concesiones y Servicios Públicos de Transporte |
|
Fondo Fiduciario Federal de Infraestructura Regional (Federal Trust Fund for Regional Infrastructure, FFFIR) |
Economy Ministry |
|
Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Productivo (National Productive Development Fund, FONDEP) |
Economy Ministry |
|
Delegaciones Sanitarias Federales (Federal Health Delegations) |
Health Ministry |
|
Agencia Regulatoria de la Industria del Cáñamo y Cannabis Medicinal (Hemp and Cannabis Regulation, ARICCAME) |
ANMAT (National Administration of Drugs, Foods, and Medical Devices) / Economy Ministry |
|
Instituto Nacional de la Agricultura Familiar, Campesina e Indígena (INAFCI Agriculture Institute) |
Agriculture Secretariat |
|
Instituto Nacional de Semillas (National SEed Institute, INASE) |
Agriculture Secretariat |
|
Comisión Nacional de Semillas (National Seed Commission) |
Agriculture Secretariat |
|
Instituto Nacional de Medicina Tropical (Institute of Tropical Medicine, INMET) |
ANLIS-Malbrán |
|
Instituto Nacional de Prevención de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares (Institute for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention) |
Health Ministry |
|
SAMIC Hospital network (Servicios de Atención Médica Integral para la Comunidad) |
Health Ministry |
Restructured or merged bodies
|
Body/agency |
New status |
|
Comisión Nacional de Regulación del Transporte (National Traffic and Road Safety Commission, CNRT) |
Agencia de Control de Concesiones y Servicios Públicos de Transporte (Agency for Oversight of Concessions and Public Transport) |
|
Junta de Seguridad en el Transporte (Transport Safety Board) |
Agencia de Investigación de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación (Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Agency) |
|
Instituto Nacional del Cáncer (National Cancer Institute) |
Unit within Health Ministry |
|
Hospitales Nacionales e INAREPS (National Hospitals and INAREPS, ) |
Administración Nacional de Establecimientos de Salud (National Health Establishments Administration, ANES) |
|
Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura (Viticulture, INV) |
Unit within Agriculture Secretariat |
|
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial (Industrial Technology, INTI) |
Unit within Industry Secretariat |
|
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (Agro-Tech, INTA) |
Semi-autonomous body under Agriculture Secretariat |
|
Instituto Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial (Intellectual Property, INPI) |
Semi-autonomous body under Industry Secretariat |
– TIMES/AFP/NA
Comments