After a close vote, the plenary session of the Regional Council of Arequipa (CRA) approved this Friday Addendum 13 of Majes Siguas II, with which the irrigation project can be unlocked.
The debate that lasted more than four hours, in the first instance had a technical tie, so it was defined with the casting vote of the president of the Regional Council of Arequipa, José Luis Hancco, who changed his initial position.
At first, the directors who voted against the subscription were Ysrael Zúñiga, Edy Medina, Elmer Pinto, Crhiss Díaz and José Luis Hancco. In favor were Harbert Zúñiga, Silvio Arias, Miguel Guzmán, Gloria Salas and Veto Bernal.
However, Hancco asked for a fourth intermission and when the session resumed he changed his vote, thus joining the approval group. For this reason, the vote was 6 in favor and 4 against.
According to President Hancco, he changed his position to favor economic recovery. “This enables the new generations to develop, I assume my vote with the responsibility of the case”, he told the HBA Noticias agency.
Addendum 13 aims to introduce a technological change in the conduction and distribution system (increased number of water intakes, open channel technology to technified irrigation) in the 38,500 hectares of the Siguas pampas.
This contractual modification requires an investment of US$ 104 million (in addition to the US$ 550 million that the work initially demanded), which is paid with the increase in the value of the land due to this technology. The addendum also includes an anti-corruption clause that is in line with ProInversión’s standard text that applies from the project tender.
In addition, it will allow the cultivation of agro-export products with added value: avocados, grapes and artichokes, which will generate exports for the Arequipa Region for US$ 1,010 million per year (in its production stage it will represent 13.9% of Arequipa’s GDP, and 0.7% of the national GDP).
In terms of employment, the generation of 100,000 jobs is expected.
