Montevideo halted review of the Carrasco wetlands and will move ahead with a territorial study

The Intendencia de Montevideo decided to ask the Junta Departamental de Montevideo to put on hold consideration of the Programa de Actuación Integrada Complementario linked to the Carrasco wetlands, amid the debate over a real estate development in the area. According to La Diaria, Mayor Mario Bergara said the decision responds both to the debate already underway and to new regulatory elements affecting the case.

According to Bergara in an interview with la diaria Radio, one of those factors is the decree from the Ministerio de Ambiente that defined the area as an environmental protection zone. The other is the regulation from the Ministerio de Vivienda y Ordenamiento Territorial on the preferred uses of tools such as the PAI Complementario, which, he explained, indicates that it should preferably not be used for real estate developments.

The mayor described the area as a territory with degradation and environmental difficulties. He also mentioned the recent installation of a bioguard in the stream, in coordination with the Intendencia de Canelones, where a larger-than-expected amount of waste was detected, as well as problems of urban expansion and the presence of at least three settlements.

According to Bergara, the procedure under discussion does not mean directly approving a project, but rather authorizing the municipality to carry out a study to determine which uses may be allowed and which may not, along with a series of environmental conditions. At the same time, the Intendencia is promoting a Partial Plan over a broader area than the 228 hectares included in this initiative, and which does not require approval from the Junta. That technical analysis, he said, would take close to a year.

Regarding criticism from residents and social organizations, he said there are differing views and that the municipality has already explained in exchange meetings the scope of what is being analyzed and the safeguards planned. He also stressed that the evaluation involves environmental, urban and economic dimensions.

Bergara insisted that what is now under analysis is not the approval or rejection of a specific project, but the definition of the possibilities for land use. He added that any future initiative will have to comply with the requirements set by the Ministerio de Ambiente and assured, according to La Diaria, that proposals that contradict those conditions will not be accepted.

About the idea presented by the developer, he said it does not include towers or a private neighborhood, but rather low-rise buildings, housing of different levels and public park and linear park spaces next to the wetlands. He clarified, in any case, that the corresponding study has not yet been carried out.

During the interview, Bergara also referred to the new waste collection system in Montevideo. He said the goal is to reach nearly half a million households and that current progress stands at around 10%. According to him, monitoring in neighborhoods where it has already been implemented showed high levels of satisfaction: 85% of people said they were satisfied or very satisfied, and 91% said they saw their block and neighborhood as cleaner.

He also reported that around 1,000 containers have already been removed from public streets, out of a total of nearly 11,800, and that the intention is to remove a little more than 7,000. Those units, he added, could reinforce areas where the new system cannot be applied. According to his figures, of some 550,000 households in Montevideo, about 490,000 would be covered by in-home and on-property containers, while some 60,000 will continue with another collection scheme.

Sources

• La Diaria

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