The mayor of Montevideo presented the initiatives at the meeting she held with the ministries of Environment, Health and Social Development, together with the mayors of Canelones and Lavalleja.
the mayor of Montevideo, Carolina Cosse. presented 20 proposals to face the situation that is currently experiencing Uruguay due to the scarcity of water, which he described as a “crisis”; and he said that the government was “a bit of a denier” about it, during the meeting in executive tower with representatives of the government and the mayors of cannelloni and Lavalleja.
“I think that there has not been a good management of the crisis, we are in a crisis. It has been a somewhat denialist management, ”said the mayor of Montevideo. For this, during the meeting held with the Minister of the Environment, Robert Bouvierrepresentatives of the Ministry of Social Development (Mides) and of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP), and the mayors of Canelones, Yamandu Orsi and Lavalleja, mario garciapresented 20 points to deal with the crisis.
What are the proposals about?
The first proposal presented by Cosse corresponds to declaring a alert situation so that the population becomes aware of the situation and adopts the actions recommended by the government. Also, within this first measure, is the need to create a crisis committee. In relation to this, it is also proposed to carry out a campaign to communicate the emergency situation to the population.
Thirdly, from the administration they stress the importance of publish daily public information about how the situation progresses. Fourth, there is the limitation of water use through the prohibition of activities such as washing sidewalks, cars or irrigation and, in the event that there are people who make a living from this type of activity, having a protocol ready to ‘protect them.
To these is added the reduced tax on bottled water, the control of prices of the same and the reinforcement of capacities to be able to detect losses in the water. In relation to OSE, they propose the simplification of repairs – through a protocol that allows speeding them up –, the rate review – with a significant reduction or even the total exoneration of the service to beneficiaries of social plans that do not exceed the minimum to be defined – and the increase in the rate that exceeds the minimum to achieve conscious consumption.
To these proposals are added the water distribution in tanker trucksprovide bottled water to risk groups, bag drinking water, generate a supportive logistics chain and carry out a mapping of critical sites of water distribution. Finally, there is the request to optimize the use of water for large consumers, the facilitation of import of water and inputs, carrying out a campaign to prevent Dengue and Chikungunya, as well as disseminating a guide to treat sensitive cases and guarantee water for animal welfare.
Source: Ambito
