Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05SANSALVADOR2198
2005-08-08 21:06:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy San Salvador
Cable title:  

GOVERNMENT GETTING WORKERS UP AND OUT 30 MINUTES

Tags:  ECON EPET ENRG ES 
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UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 002198 

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EPET ENRG ES
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT GETTING WORKERS UP AND OUT 30 MINUTES
EARLIER TO CONSERVE FUEL USE

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 002198

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EPET ENRG ES
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT GETTING WORKERS UP AND OUT 30 MINUTES
EARLIER TO CONSERVE FUEL USE


1. On June 8, President Saca announced the formation of a
public-private sector "National Emergency Commission" to
identify ways to mitigate the impact of high global
petroleum prices. On July 22, the government announced that
it would implement four measures to reduce traffic
congestion and thereby conserve fuel use. As a result, a
large part of the public sector work force in San Salvador
was required to report to work 30 minutes earlier today, the
first day back at work for residents of the capital
following the August 3-6 holidays.


2. The changes, which took effect today for a two-month
trial period, include:

a. advance work hours at central government ministries by 30
minutes. In July, the Ministry of Economy said that 30
percent of the 78,000 public employees in San Salvador
commute by private vehicle; changing the work schedule for
the central government (autonomous agencies, the Supreme
Court and the legislative branch are not covered by the
measures) means that 23,000 vehicles will be on (and off)
the roads earlier, improving traffic flow. Government
employees will work from 7:30 to 3:30 rather than from 8:00
to 4:00;

b. remove 500 old buses from roads in the center of the
city, relocate bus stops, and limit cargo transport during
rush hour (comment: private sector sources assert that old
buses have not yet been demobilized and question the
government's ability to carry through on this commitment);

c. deploy police at strategic traffic points in the city of
San Salvador to manage traffic; and

d. develop a plan to broadcast traffic accident information
to motorists.


3. The National Emergency Commission is composed of the
Ministers of Labor, Economy, and Public Works, the Vice
Minister of Transport in the Public Works Ministry, the
national police director, and the presidents of the National
Private Enterprise Association (ANEP),the Salvadoran
Industrialists Association (ASI),Fusades (think tank),and
the Salvadoran Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In
implementing the measures put in place today, the GOES has
moved on a number of the proposals proposed in the
commission, although others - including moving the clock up
- have not been endorsed. While generally supportive of the
government's changes, the private sector organizations
involved have been conservative about adopting changes in
their work schedules and, in private, some have criticized
the government for not doing more to relieve the pinch of
energy prices. In an August 8 conversation with emboff, the
analyst at a key association rebuked the government for the
limited scope of measures being considered, emphasizing his
association's longstanding call for greater exploitation of
hydropower resources (comment: part of a policy approach
which also includes pressure on government to bear down on
expensive thermal electricity generators),incentives for
renewable energy, and measures to (once and for all)
rationalize the provision of bus transport to the public.
Unscientific soundings indicated that traffic conditions
were no easier today, the first day of government's revised
work hours.

Barclay