The President of the Republic said a couple of days ago that 2022 will be a year of “historical record” in terms of the construction of public works, strong words that he chose to talk about the works in which his government is supposedly advancing after that the mayor of Canelones criticized the “low” public investment in infrastructure, and understands that there should be a “shake” in this regard.
The five-year plan of the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MTOP) set the goal of reaching an investment of US$2.7 billion in both mobility and related works. However, the minister of this portfolio, José Luis Falero, assured that they rather aim to invest more than US$3,500 million due to the extension of the contract with the Corporación Vial del Uruguay and the rehabilitation, maintenance and financing contracts (Cremaf, also popularly known as “cream contracts”).
they don’t believe him
The president of the Single Construction Union (SUNCA), Daniel Diviero, said that, for them, the government’s announcement “does not move the needle” and rather remarked that there has been a cut in investment in public works in the first two years.
consulted by The DailyDiviero said that from the union they noticed “that in 2020 and 2021 there was a significant cut, mainly in public works (mainly) in housing”, which “affected the most deprived sectors that could not access their housing”, at the time that “thousands of jobs” were lost.
He argued that jobs are sustained “with works that come from previous periods”, such as the second plant of UPM (which employs some 7,000 people) and the Central Railway (another 3,000 workers). Private investment in the real estate sector is what “has given a significant boost.” Another 3,000 jobs are in side works.
“Almost no infrastructure works have been built for the education sector, nor for public health. We are not visualizing where such an important investment is going to be raised, ”he added. Asked about the numbers in relation to the bridges, Diverio clarified that these are “interventions”; that is, “reinforcement work”, and “95 are already done”.
So things, bridges and road infrastructure “do not move the needle,” criticized the union.
For his part, the president of the Chamber of Construction of Uruguay, Diego O’Neill, believes that Lacalle Pou may have some information that the union has not accessed, but that “from what is visible (not believe) make it a record year.”
O’Neill added that he prefers to wait for the Rendering of Accounts to be presented, but stressed that these years of the Lacalle government “have not been record.”
