President Luis Lacalle Pou announced the end of the state of exception that governed the metropolitan area of Uruguay.
With the announcement of the end of the water emergency, the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Poualso confirmed that financial aid to Uruguayan families of lower income to buy mineral water, such as the exoneration of the Value Added Tax (VAT) to bottled water.
Due to the increase in reserves in the basins that supply Montevideo and the metropolitan area due to the heavy rains of recent days, the president decided to end the water emergency that whipped the Uruguay, together with the worst drought of the last century that strongly affected the country’s economy.
With this, the economic aid that the government had provided to the most vulnerable families in the Uruguay to buy bottled water. The economic support will be carried out until the month of September and, from there, it will stop providing. The government had benefited more than 500,000 people with this agreement.
The other measure taken by the government is to reverse the exoneration of the Value Added Tax (VAT) that had been proclaimed at the beginning of the water emergency to prevent the costs of bottled water keep shooting. This measure had made a 6-liter drum cost 40 Uruguayan pesos.
What does the decree say?
The decree signed by the head of state indicates that since June 19 “various measures have been adopted for the purpose of maintain the water supply to the population”. And that “the latest rainfall in the region allowed the courses and the main water reserves used to supply the population to have recovered part of its flow”.
“For this reason, given the current scenario, it is considered appropriate and convenient to annul” the decree that started the exceptional situation in Montevideo and the surrounding towns, says the resolution signed by the president, which adds that, consequently , it is determined “the cessation of the water emergency”.
Source: Ambito
