GOLD Report I - UCLG

LATIN AMERICA186United Cities and Local Governmentstraffic regulation, roads and civic safety,public shows and culture (see table 4).Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexicohave transferred to intermediate and locallevels responsibility for managing healthcare, primary and secondary education,and social assistance 38 .Latin American municipalities also sharethe management of public services withthe intermediate entities and the nationalgovernment. The specific services differ ineach country, but among the most commonare planning, education, health, civilprotection, environmental protection, sportand culture. When these are shared by differentlevels of government, each level takesresponsibility for certain componentsof the policy. However, problems of coordinationas well as ambiguities with respectto management responsibility are fairlycommon at each level.Under the influence of neo-liberalism in the1990s, many countries opted for the concessionor privatization of local services. InArgentina all of the local public services inthe metropolitan area of Buenos Aires andthe provinces in the interior were granted inconcession: mainly water, sanitation andenergy services. In Chile, the basic servicesof water, sewers, electricity, gas and telephonesystems were privatized and takenover by regional and national companies. InBolivia and Ecuador, the management ofdrinking water and sewers has been privatized,granted in concession or delegated toprivate sector operators 39 in the major municipalitiesof La Paz, Cochabamba and Guayaquil.Nevertheless, the management ofsome services is returning to public authoritiesat the local (as is the case in Bolivia andshortly in Guayaquil) and national (BuenosAires) levels.In Brazil, there is some overlap of responsibilitiesbetween levels of government insome regions; others have some inadequateservices or lack certain services entirely.While responsibility for education and healthis transferred to the intermediate governmentsand municipalities with sufficientadministrative capacity, small municipalitiesgive up part of their responsibilities, such asconstruction and maintenance of roads, inexchange for a portion of the fuel tax. Thedivision of responsibilities usually followssectorial logic (water and sanitation andeducation are dealt with by the states; thefinancing of health, housing and sanitationis done by the federal government).In Argentina in the 1990s, while servicesmanaged by the national Government andprovinces were privatized, the municipalitiesheld onto the services for which theywere responsible. Furthermore, those withgreater capacity 40 took on new responsibilities41 . In addition, through delegation ofthe upper levels of the government, somemunicipalities administer social policies andtemporary work programs, programs offeringassistance to micro-companies, andsmall and medium companies, and the developmentof sanitation.38. There are important differences among countries. In Chile, the municipalities administer integrally primary health care, andprimary and secondary education. In Bolivia, they are only responsible for the administration and maintenance of infrastructureand equipment of the establishments. In Argentina, the municipalities carry out complementary actions for infrastructuremaintenance, and in the health sector they share primary health care.39. The concept of “privatization” is generally avoided as it tends to generate strong resistance. Bolivia, for example, opted for“capitalization” where private firms bring capital to public enterprizes, taking over their control.40. The municipality of Rio Cuarto, in the province of Cordoba took on the water supply company —first national, then provincial;through excellent management of the water service, self-financing has been achieved for the first time in years.41. Among the new responsibilities: environment, civic safety, economic promotion, access to justice and resolution of conflictsbetween family members and neighbors without recourse to the law; social promotion (young people, senior citizens, genderequality, disability), health, promotion of culture and sport; and education insofar as it complements the efforts of other levels ofgovernment.