It’s not a good time he’s going through Medellin. to the ravages caused by the coronavirus, In addition, the citizens of the capital of Antioquia are constantly bombarded by two very marked speeches in which each side, in its own way, seeks to “save Medellín.”
However, despite this, citizen pride remains. And that pride, precisely, is something that continues to be seen over the years and is a key aspect to start looking for a way out of the division that is seen in the city.
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This was one of the conclusions left by the discussion held after the socialization of the results of the 2021 Citizen Perception Survey (EPC), carried out by Medellin How Are We Going (MCV)a private program between several institutions and that is part of the How We Are Network of cities in the country.
One of the relevant results was about the image and management of Mayor Daniel Quintero.
According to the survey, 93% of those surveyed know Quintero and 54% have a favorable opinion of him. In terms of confidence, the local president obtained 34%. Since the question on trust in the Mayor was not included in 2020, there is no way to compare this percentage with the year prior to the survey.
Finally, in terms of good management, while in 2020 Quintero had 60%, for the following year it fell to 33% among those surveyed.
The results of last year’s measurement were announced on the morning of this Friday, February 4, and, according to the file, the objective of this is “to know the opinion of citizens about the direction of things in the city and indicators key that allow to measure the levels of satisfaction with critical aspects of the quality of life”.
Among what was found in the measurement, there is a similarity in some indicators compared to what was expressed by citizens in previous years, such as citizen pride and satisfaction with the city as a place to livewhich had indicators of more than 80 percent.
But, in a year marked by the aftermath of the covid-19 pandemic, economic-based indicators were the most affected in the survey.
This is the case of poverty, where 31 percent of those surveyed consider themselves poor, with the Eastern Central and Northeastern areas reporting the highest responses on this topic, with 44 and 37 percent, respectively. It is striking that this figure increased 9 points compared to that of 2020.
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Inequality continues in the communes of the northeast, among which are Popular, Manrique and Aranjuez.
Also in this item, 54 percent said that their income is enough to cover the minimum expenses, while 35 percent said that it is not enough to do so.
The Northeastern zone once again scored the painful ranking where there are more people who said that they have not been able to eat three times a day for the last four weeks, at the time of the survey.
While the total in the city was 22 percent, in this area it was 42 percent, which is equivalent to as if 4 out of 10 people would not have had all three meals.
“That is the main problem in this city, which has very serious expressions around the issues of food insecurity. And the municipality is not in a fiscal scenario that prevents it from prioritizing resources so that these problems are resolved,” said Luis Fernando Agudelo, director of Medellín How We Are Going.
The positive
One of the aspects that improved in the last survey has to do with the people’s satisfaction with education received by children and young people, which increased between 2020 and 2021, going from 79 to 86 percent, respectively.
Satisfaction with health services also increased, going from 68 to 79 percent, in the last two years.
“Citizens perceive that the city is doing well in terms of education, which we believe is due to the return to attendance. In health and vaccination issues, we find very important elements of the pride that citizens feel in these services,” added Agudelo.
Security was another aspect that showed a positive perception, since 52 percent of those surveyed said they felt safe in the city, a percentage that had not looked this high for 10 years.
the negative
Among what did not improve, according to the survey, it has to do with citizen optimism. Only 45 percent of Medellin residents stated that things in the city were on the right track, which according to MCV “is the lowest level of optimism in the 16 years that the Survey has been carried out.”
Regarding satisfaction with the way in which the mayor’s office invests resources, the report revealed that it decreased from 63 to 36 percent between 2020 and 2021.
Between that time, the perception of good management of the mayor went from 60 to 33 percent, favorability went from 74 to 54 percent, and trust registered 34 percent in 2021, revealed MCV.
“Citizens expect public officials to help them solve their daily problems, but what they are witnessing is a permanent conversation that divides and polarizes with an anti-business discourse. To continue doing that, what he does is send a complex message to the entrepreneurs and the inhabitants, which has repercussions on trust”, affirmed Laura Gallego, vice president of Proantioquia.
The issue of employment was another aspect that showed a perception of citizen dissatisfaction, since while in 2020 35 percent of those surveyed disagreed that it was easy to get a job in Medellin, last year that percentage increased to 59 percent. .
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What hasn’t changed
For the citizens surveyed, the key issues that the mayor should pay attention to are: Health (49%), Employment (46%) and Education (43%). The same three who responded in the 2019 survey.
Regarding satisfaction with situations related to the environment, the result of the survey showed that the percentages are similar between 2021 (second year of Daniel Quintero’s mayorship) and 2019 (last year of Federico Gutiérrez’s mayorship).
These situations are: the noise level in the city (21%), the visual pollution of the city (21%), the debris and garbage in the streets (23%), the quality of the air (27%), the quality water, rivers, streams, etc. (3. 4%).
Quintero responds
(Medellín Como Vamos) is a foundation founded and controlled by the GEA and they present the figures that best suit them
When asked about the results of said survey, the mayor of Medellín, Daniel Quintero, assured that, despite what the survey shows, the majority of citizens endorse his management.
“The survey says that 56% have a favorable image, which is still a majority as all the other surveys have been, which shows that there are more people who support usQuintero said.
The local president stressed that the entire country is experiencing the effects of the pandemic and unemployment, which has affected the image of all the country’s leaders. However, he assured, his is still among the highest.
Quintero took the opportunity to launch a ‘taunt’ at the entity behind this measurement and questioned its impartiality.
“(Medellín Como Vamos) is a foundation founded and controlled by the GEA and they present the figures that best suit them to do harm,” said the mayor of Medellín.
reflections
Jenny Giraldo, director of Mujeres Confiar, who was invited to the presentation of the report, reflected on the way in which it is being communicated to citizens.
“In a scenario of loss of confidence, as evidenced in the report, there is a huge challenge because a huge gap is noted. There is a kind of war of narratives around the city in which truths are wanted to be evidenced from different sectors, but there is very little dialogue between those truths, “said Giraldo.
For her, many of the problems that exist in the city are not exclusive to this mayor’s officebut they are an accumulation of things that come from behind and that were aggravated by the pandemic.
The director of Mujeres Confiar pointed out that a conversation must be strengthened to determine what is happening and why, despite the fact that part of the business community highlights the Government-Business relationship, it has not been possible to close the inequality gaps in the cityespecially in the Northeast.
Among the reflections made by the participants in the talk, it was agreed that everyone must seek the ideal city model to solve current problems, for what it is necessary to have, among all the actors, according to the director of Medellín How Come on, “bigger ears to listen more and a smaller mouth to talk less”.
ALEXANDER MARKET
Editor of THE TIME
@AlejoMercado10
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