As reflected in comments of the MTDS and Strategic Plan, there is a widespread feeling that the reforms embodied in the 1995 Organic Law on Provincial Governments and Local-level Governments (OLPGLLG) have not solved the problems of the decentralized system. In the words of the MTDS (9–10):
…in the years since the passage of the Organic Law, service delivery has deteriorated. On the whole service delivery systems are dysfunctional and there remains widespread confusion over functional (who does what) and financial (who pays for what) responsibilities across the three levels of government. As well, institutional capacity to deliver services is best described as grossly inadequate.
These problems, and the policy measures directed at their solution are discussed in Chapter 12 and in somewhat more detail in May forthcoming).