The Argentine businessman Juan Carlos López Mena –owner of Buquebús– requested public information from the Presidency of the Republic “regarding the private project or initiative to be carried out on the Mauá dam.”
The businessman filed a request for information – protected by Law 18,381 – to learn about the situation of the damowned by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM).
The Presidency’s response was that the information “is still being collected”so that extended the deadline for 20 days provided by the law on access to public information to deliver what is requested.
The request for access to information from the Argentine businessman occurs in a context in which the government is considering for at least two months two conflicting projects regarding river passenger transport, at two opposite poles of the same peninsula. One from Berkes and Corporación América and the other from López Mena himself, to develop a new facility in the Port of Montevideo.
Despite the fact that none of the projects is closed, in fact the Executive Branch has already put its foot on the accelerator to materialize the first, with the announcement of a call for tenders to replace the port terminal and that area be used as a exclusive area for cargo logistics. For this 30-year concession, the joint project between Berkes and Corporación América would have an advantage.
as he knew The Observerthe second actor – today responsible for the management of the Carrasco International Airport and recently the beneficiary of a direct grant for the six air terminals in the interior – was incorporated into the original Berkes project in a second stage, when the talks were already more advanced.
If the Berkes project succeeds and Corporación América wins the tender, Corporación América would be in charge of both commercial air connectivity and river passenger transport in Montevideo, receiving the landings of ferries and cruise ships in the capital. From this company they are not commenting on the project in Mauá, according to what they told The Observer from the communication agency Quatromanos.
This initiative would set aside the latest Buquebús proposal for the port of Montevideo, by moving the current passenger terminal to the Mauá Dock. In this way the Argentine company of the Argentine López Mena would see its third consecutive plan frustrated due to this issue in the last five years.
