Ten months ago, the installation of turnstiles and metal detection arches began at the entrance to the local Congress as part of security measures; however, they have still not been activated. The president of the Board of Directors, Andrea Tovar Saavedra, confirmed that they will remain in that state. The project was promoted in the previous legislature by Gerardo Ángeles Herrera, at a cost of more than one million pesos.
"It is an investment that was made from the previous legislature. Today it has not been determined when they will start to be used; I will not give that order; however, removing them also represents a cost," mentioned the lawmaker. Although having them inactive results in a "white elephant," the decision not to activate them is due to the requirement that citizens provide personal data and undergo a series of procedures to access the building, which goes against the idea of the legislature being considered "the people's house."
"There were more important things in which the money could be invested, such as microphones and improving certain areas of our legislature," lamented Tovar Saavedra. Despite there being more pressing needs, such as the implementation of electronic voting and microphones to know the sense of the vote of each legislator in each session, this security project was chosen that currently has no use.
According to the budget for 2024, more than 14 million pesos were allocated for installation, repair, maintenance, and conservation services, so this investment represents just over 7% of that amount. No information has been provided about whether the service was awarded directly or if there was any bidding process, nor about the company or provider that carried out the installation.
Although before the start of the new legislature, deputies from Morena expressed their rejection of these security measures and committed to removing them, so far, after more than 4 months of activity, they have not made any statements regarding this.
