Ministry to improve 500km of Region X roads

Chile's public works ministry will invest some 11bn pesos (US$16.1mn) to improve 500km of roads in southern Region X by 2006, national highway director Sergio Galilea announced. The improvements will be made possible by an expansion of the ministry's "Caminos Basicos" program, which began five years ago and has employed alternative materials such as bischofite, a natural compound made up of magnesium salts and table salt. The works will benefit alternative and rural roads in Region X's Osorno, Valdivia, Llanquihue, Chiloe and Palena provinces, which are sometimes intransitable due to dust, rain and/or mud, according to Galilea. According to the 2002 census, Region X has 950,000 residents.