Enciso defended Casupá’s progress and responded to ARU criticism

The president of the Rural Association of Uruguay, Rafael Ferber, mixed praise and criticism of the government during his closing speech at Expo Prado. According to la diaria, he praised measures such as the presentation of a bill on competitiveness and progress in international integration, but questioned aspects linked to the municipalities, the Casupá dam and the conflict at the specialized terminal of the port of Montevideo.

On rural roads, Ferber argued that the current system must change and said it is not acceptable that, every time it rains, there are producers who cannot get their output out. Asked about those remarks, the president of the Congress of Mayors, Carlos Enciso, said it was “very light” and “very superficial” to blame only the departmental governments. In comments to Telenoche cited by la diaria, he noted that there are rural roads more than 100 years old and said municipal coffers are not enough to maintain gravel roads on which dozens of 40-ton trucks carrying timber travel every day. He also mentioned traffic linked to grain, rice and meat.

Ferber also questioned the government’s decision to build a dam in Casupá to strengthen drinking water supply in the metropolitan area. He said that decision conditions the management of the entire Santa Lucía basin and proposed urgently evaluating an alternative that would complement that basin with a pumping system from Juan Lacaze to transport water from the Río de la Plata to Aguas Corrientes.

Enciso replied that “today Casupá is a fact” because, he said, there are already institutional decisions by national agencies intervening in the territory. He added that issues such as the diversion of departmental roads affected by the project must be resolved and argued that the alternative is not to remain in complaint, but to try to reduce the difficulties for production in the area.

In the same vein, the secretary of the Presidency, Alejandro Sánchez, said at Expo Prado that the administration committed to guaranteeing access to drinking water through the Casupá dam. According to la diaria, he said the government considers the initiative a strategic project, that the bidding process is already prepared and that environmental impact studies are continuing.

Regarding the conflict at the specialized terminal of the port of Montevideo, Ferber said it is unacceptable for the country to be held hostage by a dispute between a concessionaire company and a union. Although he considered correct the Executive Branch’s decision to set minimum services while negotiations over a collective agreement continue, he said the measure should have been taken earlier.

Sánchez replied that the government made every effort to sustain dialogue and that, when it deemed it necessary to establish minimum services, it moved in that direction. He also said that next week there will be new tripartite meetings to try to break the deadlock in the conflict.

In general terms, the secretary of the Presidency said Ferber’s remarks serve as a meeting point for thinking about productive Uruguay, although he clarified that not all ARU positions are shareable. He also said there are common ground on the need to invest more, open markets and increase production.

Sources

• La Diaria

About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not do its own reporting on this fact.