The initiative provides for the construction of infrastructure to make water drinkable and an investment of 200 million dollars, which could reach 500 million when OSE approves the sanitation plan for 60 localities.
“After a long adventure, the OSE board has approved the Arazatí project,” announced President Lacalle Pou. It is the largest investment in the last 150 years in that area, he added.
During the announcement made in the Executive Tower, the president was accompanied by the Minister of the Environment, Adrián Peña; the president of OSE, Raúl Montero; and the vice president of the organization, Susana Montaner. Also present were the Secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado; the secretary, Rodrigo Ferrés; the undersecretary of the Environment, Gerardo Amarilla, and other authorities from the Ministry of the Environment and OSE.
Lacalle Pou reported that the OSE board approved the Arazatí project, which will allow the construction of infrastructure in the department of San José for the intake of water to supply the population.
The investment, of some 200 million dollars, is the largest in the last 150 years in this area, and will reach 500 million dollars, when OSE approves the sanitation plan planned for some 60 localities in Uruguay. All this will provide the necessary security to access drinking water without prejudice to droughts or technical failures, he explained.
In addition, these projects will generate work for the area of the department of San José, and in the different localities of the sanitation plan. These actions “speak of a country that cares about environmental issues,” said Lacalle Pou.
He recalled that for many years there has been talk of the problem of drinking water and the need for a second supply source, in addition to the insufficient sanitation capacity to reach most users.
Lacalle Pou specified that, after an exhaustive, technical and political study, the project is protected by article 47, numeral 3, of the Constitution of the Republic. He also highlighted that the initiative accompanies the government’s public works plan, which includes an investment of 900 million dollars from the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, an annual historical record in that portfolio.
Asked about the project funds, Peña explained that the infrastructure designed by a private company, after a call for public bidding, will be at the service of OSE.
