Without national financing, the Province reactivated public works

Statement from the government of the province of Neuquén

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

The provincial government is carrying out a process of reactivation and consolidation of public works, which responds to the territorial needs of the people of Neuquén. This is a commitment by Governor Rolando Figueroa, who seeks the balanced development of the entire province, following the demands of Regionalization.

As of October, a total of 104 projects are still underway and 40 are under contract, making progress in strategic areas such as Education, Health, Security, Sanitation and Energy, among others. Through the Ministry of Infrastructure, 42 projects have already been completed and 451 more will be executed over the next three years.

Of this number, 98 correspond to Water and Sanitation, 88 to Electric Energy, 11 Human Development establishments, 31 to Health, 7 Security establishments, 4 sports works, and 82 related to Education. Added to this are five gas works, one in the Production area, two for tourist infrastructure, 25 administration and office buildings, 45 works related to transportation and road network, and a total of 188 works for housing purposes.

The Infrastructure portfolio reported that in addition to the completed works, 133 projects are in the project development stage, 33 are in the bidding process, 144 have been contracted and are in execution, and 245 are in renegotiation.

WITHOUT NATIONAL AID

Despite the national underfunding of public works, the Province made progress on priority projects to combat the significant infrastructure deficit that the province has been dragging on for more than 10 years. At the beginning of the administration, there were almost 400 works paralyzed and underfunded by the Nation.

Figueroa clarified that “we had to sit down and renegotiate the works because we were impoverishing the State. We had to finish a renegotiation of the works because the State cannot be paying more than the rest. The State is all of us.”

The situation of provincial infrastructure works was uncertain due to the lack of real information and the paralysis of many, which were also in arrears.

Faced with this situation, a process of surveying, renegotiation and prioritization was implemented, driven by Provincial Decree 23/2024 and the regulations that followed. This allowed the reactivation and renegotiation of the works. At the same time, projects that were under the jurisdiction of the National State and others that, financed by it, were being managed at the municipal level were incorporated into provincial management.

Last April, Law 3432 on the Reactivation of Public Works was approved, which provided the necessary tools to work on the renegotiation of contracts.

To establish the priorities for works, those that were paralyzed due to contractual or financing problems and those that were more than 80% complete were taken into account, considering the axes of Education, Health and Security.

The execution of works in the province of Neuquén has faced challenges arising from the need for coordination with contributions from the National State, especially in the housing sector.

Despite the efforts of the provincial administration to move forward with key projects, delays in the approval of agreements and the complete lack of payments delayed the start of the works. This caused many of them to be paralyzed and affected not only the signing of new agreements, but also the possibility of delegating the execution of projects to the municipalities, through provincial financing.

Figueroa exemplified the abandonment of the Alipiba project, a desire that would allow Villa La Angostura to be connected to the national network and save millions of dollars. “The lack of so many projects that were linked to energy and that unfortunately neither this nor the previous government of Alberto Fernández and all his officials worked so that we could have the solution,” he said.

He recalled that in the case of Villa La Angostura, “for eight years now, Neuquinos have had a completed connectivity project, from the route that goes to Bariloche to Villa La Angostura. Because of the permanent promises and commitments signed by the national governments, of all colors, of all colours, no one has done that work.”

The president did not ignore the fact that this implies for the province “a monthly investment of two million dollars to supply Villa La Angostura with electricity.”

PROJECTION

The Province seeks to respond to the infrastructure needs of each of the localities, reaffirming its commitment to territorial development and the well-being of the people of Neuquén.

For the next three years, it was announced that 451 new projects will be carried out, in which more than 2 billion dollars will be invested. For this regional plan, the needs of the municipalities and development commissions were assessed, respecting the governance pact previously signed with the authorities of all the towns in the province.