The Ministry of Public Works ( es, Ministerio de Obras Públicas; MOP) of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

is a ministry of the national executive power that oversees and advises on the elaboration and maintenance of roadways, urban and hydraulic infrastructure and other types of

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

. From 2003 to 2015 it was known as the Ministry of Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services; it was reorganized as a secretariat of the

Interior Ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

during the 2015–2019

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by ...

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previo ...

, and reinstated as a ministry with its original name in 2019 under President

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019. Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...

. The current minister of public works is Gabriel Katopodis, who has served since 10 December 2019.

Attributions

As established by the ruling Ley de Ministerios ("Ministries Law"), adopted in December 2019, the Ministry of Public Works was reinstated (from having previously been part of the

's portfolio) due to the "importance of counting with a centralized organ to co-ordinate the national government's policy on public works and hydraulic infrastructure. The Ministry's responsibilities and attributions are outlined in Article 21 of the current law, which states that, among others, it is within the ministry's competence overseeing the design and execution of plans and programs pertaining to public works and infrastructure on an international, national, regional, provincial and municipal level; co-ordinating these policies alongside the provincial governments and the government of the

Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...

, intervening in the construction and fiscalization of transport (

roads A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

airports An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfac ...

and sea and river ports) and hydraulic infrastructure; and co-ordinating and executing the necessary public works to ensure civil protection of Argentina's inhabitants, as well as creating and upkeeping policies and regulations on public services within the competent areas, among others.

Structure and dependencies

As of 2019 the Ministry of Public Works is organized into the following centralized dependencies: *Secretariat of Administrative Management (''Secretaría de Gestión Administrativa'') *Secretariat of Public Works (''Secretaría de Obras Públicas'') **Undersecretariat of Planning and Territorial Co-ordination for Public Works (''Subsecretaría de Planificación y Coordinación Territorial de la Obra Pública'') **Undersecretariat of Public Works Execution (''Subsecretaría de Ejecución de Obra Pública'') *Secretariat of Hydraulic Infrastructure and Policy (''Secretaría de Infraestructura y Política Hídrica'') **Undersecretariat of Hydraulic Works (''Subsecretaría de Obras Hidráulicas'') **Undersecretariat of Operational Management for Hydraulic Projects (''Subsecretaría de Gestión Operativa de Proyectos Hídricos'') Additionally, a number of decentralized dependencies also report to the Ministry of Public Works, including the National Directorate of Roads (DNV), the National Hydraulic Works and Sanitation Authority (ENOHSA), the National Water Institute (INA), the National Institute of Seismic Prevention (INPRES), the National Regulatory Dam Safety Authority (ORSEP). Several state-owned enterprises are also overseen by the Ministry of Public Works, such as AySA and ACUMAR, the Matanza–Riachuelo River Basin Authority.

Headquarters

The Ministry of Public Works is headquartered in the Palacio de Hacienda ("Palace of the Treasury"), located in the Monserrat ''

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish word that means " quarter" or " neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), social, a ...

'' in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, which has historically housed the Ministry of Economy (formerly known as the Ministry of the Treasury) as well as other ministerial portfolios such as

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

and

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

. The building was built in two stages from 1937 to 1950 and stands on Hipólito Yrigoyen street, across from the emblematic

Plaza de Mayo The Plaza de Mayo (; en, May Square) is a city square and main foundational site of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 1884 after the demolition of the Recova building, unifying the city's Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Armas, by that time kn ...

square and the

Casa Rosada The ''Casa Rosada'' (, eng, Pink House) is the office of the president of Argentina. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the president lives at the Quinta de ...

, seat of the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by ...

. From 1936 to 1991 the Ministry of Public Works was housed in the iconic Ministry of Public Works Building (''Edificio del Ministerio de Obras Públicas''), located on

9 de Julio Avenue July 9 Avenue (Spanish: ''Avenida 9 de Julio'') is a major thoroughfare in the city centre of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its name honors Argentina's Independence Day, July 9, 1816. The avenue runs around to the west of the Río de la Plata water ...

in downtown Buenos Aires, which is famous for its large steel image of

Eva Perón María Eva Duarte de Perón (; ; 7 May 1919 – 26 July 1952), better known as just Eva Perón or by the nickname Evita (), was an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 19 ...

. Nowadays the building houses the

Health Ministry A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

, but it is still sometimes known by its former name.

List of ministers

References

External links

* {{authority control

Public Works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

Infrastructure in Argentina

1898 establishments in Argentina