The mayor of Montevideo referred to the project approved by the national government without prior consultation with the departmental administration, and maintained that it is “welcome” despite the controversy.
the mayor of Montevideo, Carolina Cosse. He maintained that the train-tram initiative that obtained the approval of the national government and will seek an alternative route of transit to unite the Independence Square, in the capital of Uruguay, and Pinewood, in Cannelloni, it is “welcome,” even though the department did not get any formal presentation or communication about it.
“Projects are always welcome, we care a lot about improving the mobility of Montevideo and the metropolitan area, it matters so much to us that in April 2020 we presented a project to the Executive Power with not one metropolitan corridor, but four,” said the mayor in a press conference, after the words of the director of Mobility, Pablo Inthamoussu, that the Municipality had not been consulted by the Central Government before giving the green light to the feasibility study by a private actor.
In line with his government official, Cosse stated that they are so “concerned” about this issue that they presented this project, for which they “never” received a response from the Executive Branch. Asked if this bothered her, she replied: “I don’t deal with discomfort.”
Regarding the new project, which was presented by private parties, he announced that “It will have to be studied seriously”. In this sense, he considered that it is necessary to analyze the best technology that is friendly to the environment, as well as whether it is convenient to build the streets of Montevideo for this purpose or not —above all, in a context where there is already controversy among citizens with the plans for improvements carried out by the Administration. It should also be discussed “whether it has to be something that is done exclusively by the private sector or if it can be a joint participation of the national government, departmental governments and private, or not, only the national government and departmental governments.” And, along the same lines, he pointed out that “You have to be careful with public money”.
Cosse said that he was able to hold a meeting with those who are in charge of the train-tram initiative after the news from the national government, although it was not entirely satisfactory. “They asked us for a meeting and showed us a Power Point presentation”he pointed.
A breach of republican values
Yesterday, in an interview with Radio Carve, Inthamoussu also referred to the issue, highlighting the fact that the Municipality of Montevideo had never been notified about the project that will cross the capital prior to its announcement and approval by the national government. The official considered that he did not find it very serious “that a project be endorsed or approved without having spoken with the governments, at least with that of Montevideo, I think that with that of Cannelloni, neither”.
For Inthamoussu, the tram project was “started backwards.” “We find it really amazing that this is being presented in this way.” “Right off the bat, we came across a private initiative that is accepted by the government and that we don’t know about. We would like, at least, to study the project”, expressed the director of Mobility. “I’m really surprised by the disregard for departmental governmentsbecause I know not only the previous governments, but the one of the own Lacalle Herrara that he was very considerate of the departmental governments,” said the official and concluded: “Forgetting about that is not respecting some republican values that we have to have”.
Source: Ambito
