Chile: the balanced view : a recopilation of articles about the Allende years and after

figures do nottake into accountthe cost of hiring ships, although the possibilíty offorming a mixed company with a specialized firm has not been rejected. The ships would cost almost . $ 90million. At present prices to crude petroleum (US $ 82 per cu m) the substition of gas for crude petroleum would represent for 1979 (the date for which full production by the system has been scheduled) savings close to $ 205 mili ion. It is estimated that net savings would be at least $ 160 mili ion, taki ng into consideration interest and payments on capital for the liquification installations, as well as the cost of rented shipping space. If the erice of crude petroleum fell to half the present level, net savings in foreign currency would still be very significant, totaling at least $ 60 mili ion per year. The total investment coulct be made over longer periods, considering that liquid gas could initially be totally or púrtially exported. 11. TRANSPORTATION As hasbeen mentioned, under the previous government, transportation, like energy, was one of the most neglected sectors of the economy. Consequently, the country's transportation capacity is not in a condition 10 withstand a considerable increase in freight and passenger loads. While ports have become inadequate to move the mass of agricultu– ral products or raw materials for foodstuffs that are being imported, the railroads and other means of land transportation can barely meet the schedules tor internal shipping, despite a considerable decrease in tonnage due to the drop in national agricultural production. In the following sections we shall attempt to summarize the investments that are beign made, in !he intrastructure and the means of transportation, with the understanding tha! the summary does not yet correspond to a program for transportation. but represents a conti– nuation 01 work already in progress, work included in the national budget, or work underta– ken by corporations. To make them more readily understandable, the results have been consolidated in á chart re11ecting all work on transportation, and they have been grouped in what seems to be the most convenient manner. Some ofthe most necessary information was . not available in time to give the details of the work in progress. Later, it will be possible to . draft a more comprehensive plan. As indicated in the chart. transportation subsectors involve widely differing activities. A considerable portion of the infrastructure involves work done by the Ministry 01 Public Works (for example, items 2,3,4, and 5 on Chart 2), and almost 50 percent of that portion involves road devt3lopment. . Theothergroupof important investments is relatedto railroads. which ii"lChile make up the principal internal shiopi.ng system and are currently being modernized. Nevertheless, under present conditions, investment in this transportation system desérves serious consi– 'deration, inasmuch as it would have a favorable effect on savings in imported fuels. However. the system might be subject to rapid obsolescence, which has happened in other countries whose railroads handle far greater traffic than our national railroad system. Investments, a high proportion of which would be in foreign currency. are required by the private sector, especially to purchase equipment. These investments have not been quantified in the program described here. In fact, the purchases essentially involve the replacement of cargo and passenger cars for land transportation and its growth, As such, they are not subjecttoa program unless a very clear policy isformulated in relationtothem. The investments mentioned in the first draft of the program total $ 1.682 billion, more than 80 percent of which is in local currency. . ID. OTHER SECTORS OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE a) Urban sanitation The responsibility for major urban sanitation works belongs to the Ministry of Public 228