The request to deepen access to the port of Montevideo was formally made before the CARP on Thursday, November 3 of last year. In order for the works to be carried out, they must have the endorsement of the Argentine delegation in the binational commission.
Earlier this year, the Argentine delegation, chaired by Diego Tettamantipresented a document with 28 objections.
At the beginning of May of this year, Uruguay sent a report with the answers to those 28 points. Weeks later, on May 24, the Argentine delegation again presented a series of requirements regarding the project.
The letter, to which he agreed The Observerindicates that the documentation presented on the project to deepen and extend the access channel to the port of Montevideo is “incomplete and insufficient for the Argentine side to make an assessment of the probable effect that the work will have on navigation or the river regime”.
Camilo Dos Santos
Port of Montevideo
The delegation presented the same 28 points as the previous time and marked in blue those that had been answered by Uruguay. Of the 28, there are five marked with that color.
In the original, Argentina had requested that all the information presented be accompanied by the signature of the responsible professionals. In the second document from the end of May, it states that except for the Navy’s Oceanography, Hydrography and Meteorology Service (Sohma), which did comply with that request, the signature of the responsible professionals or authorities is missing on the other documentation presented.
The letter states that Information on the dredging plan and volumes to 14 meters, the complete presentation of a final environmental impact study, an environmental management plan and the final environmental authorization of the project are still awaited.among other requirements.
The text recalls that as long as Uruguay does not present the complete documentation on the proposal to deepen the access to the port of Montevideo to 14 meters, the 180-day plate scheduled for the Argentine part to issue will not begin to run.
I guess it takes a decade
In November 2013, the Uruguayan delegation to the CARP submitted a note requesting the deepening of the canal. The project, which had to be formalized with the corresponding documentation, consisted of taking it to 14 meters. The proposal took shape and was presented to the CARP. The authorization process took years and in May 2018 Argentina granted consent. It was only then that a key mistake made by the Uruguayan delegation was found. The final document, prepared by the National Port Administration (ANP) and the Ministry of Transport (MTOP), indicated that the requested deepening was 13 meters instead of 14. And that was what the Argentine delegation ended up approving.
In 2021, Uruguay began to travel a new path before the CARP to achieve the initial objective and it is the one that is still being traveled.
