The project works Arazati, which involves the construction of a new water purification plant in Uruguay, is scheduled to begin during the first half of the year, according to the consortium’s estimates Waters of Montevideo; more than a year after the initiative was raised as a necessity by the government.
A few days after the Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology (Inumet) officially declare the end of the worst drought of the last century – which also caused havoc in terms of the availability of water for human consumption – the works for the construction of the water treatment plant in the spa Arazati, Department of Saint Joseph, They are close to starting.
“We are at the crucial moment, developing the technical designs to begin the works stage soon once the construction stages are completed. environmental approval, They told Telemundo about the project.
Although there is still no specific date, the company estimates that the work, which will employ nearly 500 people, will begin before reaching the middle of the year that has just begun.
The work, which will supply water to the Metropolitan area —the sector of the country most affected by the water crisis—, includes a water treatment plant and a 72-kilometer pipeline that crosses the wetlands of St. Lucia. The construction site was chosen because it was closest to the final connection with SBI with lower levels of salinity in the water.
“The project precisely seeks to resolve a serious vulnerability that the security system has. Montevideo: lack of water in the current projection for 45 years, in quantity and quality, and vulnerability due to depending exclusively on a single source, the Santa Lucía River, and a single plant, Running Waters. This project provides a capacity almost equivalent to a third of the current capacity from an infinite source of water that is the Silver river“, they pointed out from Aguas de Montevideo.
While the contract provides for a maximum of 30 months of work, it could be expected that the project Arazati It will be completed, at the latest, at the beginning of 2027. From that moment on, OSE will be the operator and the consortium will be in charge of maintenance.
The initiative foresees an expenditure of 800 million dollars, of which 250 million will be financed by the winning company. In addition, OSE will have to pay a fee of more than 45 million dollars annually for 17 years and 6 months.
Approval of the Court of Accounts
In November of last year, the Court of Auditors approved the Arazatí project without observations, and validated by 4 votes out of 7. The fact is that the Wide Front ratified the opposition’s criticism of the initiative and its three members, Miguel Aumento, Enrique Cabrera and Flora de Santis, They expressed themselves against it.
Meanwhile, the president of the TC, Susana Diaz, next to Francisco Gallinal (National Party), Alvaro Ezcurra (Colorado Party) and Darwin Machado (National Party) did not make observations and it was established that the project complied with the contracting principles.
In fact, months ago, the director of OSE for the FA, Edgardo Ortuño, He maintained that the initiative represents “an extra cost” of nearly 300 million dollars “for not taking over the public management of OSE, but with financing, operation of the water intake and maintenance, all outsourced.”
Ortuño He stated that the companies that participated in the tender “proposed five paths to implement this project, and the government chose the most expensive.”
Source: Ambito
