Government signs loan guarantee for sanitation works in Maldonado

This is an automated translation of the original release published in Spanish.

Release from the Presidency of Uruguay

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and development bank Fonplata signed an agreement on Tuesday 8 to carry out drinking water and sanitation works in Maldonado. The loan, for US$55,000,000, will be executed by the National Financial Corporation for the Administration of Investment Funds (Conafin Afisa), the Municipality of Maldonado and the OSE. The initiative will benefit more than 180,000 inhabitants.

The signing of the agreement took place at MEF headquarters, with the presence of the head of the portfolio, Azucena Arbeleche; the director of the Office of Planning and Budget (OPP), Fernando Blanco; the mayor of Maldonado, Enrique Antía; the executive president of Fonplata, Luciana Botafogo; and the president of the National Development Corporation (CND), Luis Puig, among other national and departmental authorities.

The objective of the loan of US$55 million, of which the aforementioned State Secretariat is guarantor, is to improve the quality of life of some 180,000 people living in Maldonado, through the expansion and renovation of the drinking water and sanitation services provided to them.

This initiative will involve the following works: a wastewater treatment plant in San Carlos, with a capacity of 110 liters per second; a wastewater pumping station in La Alameda; 70 kilometers of secondary sewage networks with more than 6,000 household connections; more than 40 kilometers of primary and secondary potable water networks, a pressure reduction station in Cerro Pelado and four water distribution tanks, among other priority projects.

Blanco said that, with the signing of this loan, Maldonado joins the universal sanitation plan promoted by this administration. He added that these works are transcendental, due to the great demographic and urban growth of the department in recent years and that they will guarantee basic services to its entire population.

Antía highlighted the support of the national government in this process and explained that 10 essential works will be carried out in different localities to guarantee the provision of water and sanitation and to accompany urban growth, which led to a 50% increase in connections to the sanitary network in the last six years.

Regarding the schedule of works, he said that there are two that are already underway, because the agreement enables this possibility, and three executive projects that will begin to be executed before the end of the year. "Being able to count on the necessary infrastructure in terms of drinking water and sanitation is a guarantee of growth and development for the department," he said.