The government agreed to a loan for 325 million dollars with the Financial Fund for the Development of the La Plata Basin (Fonplata) to carry out sanitation works in the interior of the country that will benefit nearly 190,000 Uruguayans.
The tasks to strengthen the water infrastructure They will begin in the second semester and will have a disbursement and execution period of 5 years. They will be developed in 61 locations, thus achieving global coverage of sanitation, which will go from 48% to 68%.
The agreement, signed by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Arbeleche Lily; the president of OSE, Raúl Montero, his general secretary Jorge Maeso; and the executive president of Fonplata, Luciana Botafogo; It includes a total of 353.2 million dollars, of which 325 million will be contributed by the regional organization and the rest by a local counterpart.
The project, which will be executed and supervised by OSE, will have the guarantee of MEF. According to reports, it was decided to grant a subsidy of up to 30 million dollars per year, which will be provided by General Revenues, for the repayment of financing.
Montero highlighted that the signing of the agreement will allow us to achieve “one of the great objectives of this administration,” which involves increasing the coverage sanitation in the interior of the country. At the same time, the leader maintained that wastewater treatment plants will be increased by almost 100%, “improving the health of the population and the quality of the environment.
Regarding the works, in the first phase more than 57,000 new connections will be made, 812 kilometers of sanitary sewer pipes and networks will be installed, 43 new treatment plants will be built, and three existing ones will be reconditioned.
The Arazatí Project advances
In parallel with this sanitation plan, SBI works to avoid the possible effects of the new drought that could occur this year. In this framework, the Arazatí Project, whose execution would begin during the second half of 2024.
The controversial initiative, questioned for overpricing by the Frente Amplio, was awarded to the consortium Waters of Montevideo. “By obtaining financing, operation of the water intake and maintenance, all outsourced, that implies that it is 300 million dollars more expensive than if it were done by the same construction companies, but managed by OSE,” he questioned in this regard. Gerardo Ortuño, director of the entity representing the FA.
Source: Ambito
