The building that was to be the headquarters of the National Water Commission (Conagua) during the six-year term of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is abandoned, without services and in an advanced state of deterioration because the move was never completed. In other cases, where there was progress in the move of the secretariats, such as Culture in Tlaxcala and Public Education in Puebla, the few remaining workers are waiting for instructions on what will happen to these headquarters.
In 2018, then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced the decentralization of the federal government, a plan that would locate the offices of his cabinet in different states of the country —the 54th commitment of the 100 that his administration contemplated—, but this did not materialize due, in part, to the Covid-19 pandemic that almost completely paralyzed the country.
The decentralization plan placed Conagua in Veracruz, first in Xalapa, at the headquarters of the Gulf-Centro Basin Agency of this same agency, but later it was decided to send it to the port of Veracruz where it would occupy the building known as the Pemex Tower, located in the heart of the Malecón Macroplaza, built by architect Carlos Lazo Barreiro in 1950 during the government of President Miguel Alemán.
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The 54-meter-high colossus was originally the headquarters of the Bank of Mexico and in the 1970s it was handed over to Pemex until 2019 when the oil company moved its offices to Boca del Río.
At the end of 2022, the move began to this headquarters that was already damaged, because it is located in front of the sea, so the former president said that the place would be remodeled. That same year, the then senator for Veracruz Gloria Sánchez Hernández, assured that more than a thousand workers would be moved to the building, however, only a small team arrived that occupied one wing of the building.
The staff remained for two months in the place, but due to the lack of conditions, they returned to Xalapa, to the offices of the Cuenca Golfo-Centro agency of Conagua.
During a tour, the Mexican Editorial Organization (OEM) found that the building has visible damage to its structure, part of the paint has suffered from corrosion and it does not have electricity.
In the place there are structures and ropes that prevent access to the building, but anyone can jump to reach the area and hide, even some couples enter the area and there is no surveillance to prevent them.
The building is surrounded by sculptures that are also damaged, as well as a kind of pond that is full of dirty water and garbage.
The Ministry of Culture, headed by Alejandra Frausto last term, was the first to announce its decentralization in 2019 after moving to Tlaxcala, to a building located on Juárez Avenue, in the center of the state capital, known as the Palace of Culture.
Currently, this space offers cultural workshops and free events, said Santa Moreno, in charge of the headquarters, who also explained that so far the staff has not received any indication from the new administration, headed by the current Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, about the future of these offices.
The headquarters of the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) in Puebla, located at number 408 on 4 Oriente Street in the state capital, remains open and still operates for some administrative procedures. Its facade looks in good condition since months ago it received maintenance to complete the move of the federal agency, however, this did not occur either.
Administrative staff still works inside the place that remains guarded by security personnel, however, they did not provide further details regarding the activities carried out in the offices under the argument of not being authorized.
The building has 1,559 square meters that would be adapted so that the staff could attend to matters regarding federal education.
After the former president acknowledged that he would not give time to fulfill his promise, Governor Sergio Salomón Céspedes Peregrina considered that President Claudia Sheinbaum should finalize the issue.
In Sonora, although there was no complete decentralization, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader) received an area of the Multiple Use Center in Ciudad Obregón on loan.
According to testimonies in Ciudad Obregón, the property is not used and farmers in the Sonoran region go to other facilities to be served.
The building planned for Sader is located on Sufragio Efectivo S/N, between No Reelección and Vicente Guerrero, in the Centro neighborhood, and consists of 5,600 square meters in which various government offices are located, both municipal, state and federal.
It was planned that between 35 and 40 people would work in these offices in a first phase, but, according to testimonies from residents of Ciudad Obregón, the offices are empty.
They didn’t even start
Two agencies that would be moved, but never started the process were the National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute (Infonavit), which would go to the State of Mexico, and the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), whose headquarters would be in San Luis Potosí.
Guillermo Morales López, delegate of the Welfare Programs in SLP, acknowledged that the move of the SICT to that state was the only proposal that was not fulfilled during López Obrador’s six-year term.
Despite the proposals for land in areas such as Ciudad Satélite and Villa de Reyes, in the capital of Potosí, or the community of La Tinaja, in Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, the legal and administrative procedures were never started.
The same thing happened with Infonavit, for whose move the purchase of a property in the municipality of Metepec was contemplated, however, an official from the State of Mexico delegation of this agency said that the purchase of the land was never finalized.
Source:oem
