Uruguay
Order to redo the procedure to authorize the planned international airport in Rocha
The National Directorate of Territorial Planning told the Rocha Intendancy that the chosen mechanism to recategorize the land is not appropriate. According to El País of Uruguay, it will have to begin a more demanding procedure, with a full environmental study and greater citizen participation.
The construction of the planned international airport in Rocha has run into a new administrative obstacle. According to El País of Uruguay, the National Directorate of Territorial Planning ruled that the procedure submitted by the Rocha Intendancy to recategorize two rural parcels is not valid under the abbreviated modality the local government had tried to use.
According to that outlet, the resolution dated September 8 held that the PAI Aeropuerto de Rocha does not meet the conditions to be treated as an Abbreviated Integrated Action Program. It also noted that on September 4 the intendancy had already been asked to provide additional documentation to frame the request as a Complementary Integrated Action Program.
That change means the local government will have to resubmit the process through a more demanding route, with a full environmental study and more instances of citizen participation, always according to El País.
The project aims to authorize the construction of a terminal on Route 10, between the Garzón and Rocha lagoons. In the Lagunas Costeras Local Plan, those parcels had been considered within an area of potential tourism development, although they remained rural land.
The initiative is part of the 25-year extension of the concession for the Laguna del Sauce airport to Corporación América Airports, owned by Eduardo Eurnekian, in exchange for a new international terminal in Rocha, El País reported.
The project had already drawn environmental criticism. In early August, the Minister of Environment, Edgardo Ortuño, said another location should be sought because it is a sensitive area, located between two protected zones. According to El País, that position is based on three reports requested by the Lagunas Costeras Foundation, which opposes the current site.
In addition, the environmental request submitted on April 17 by the Ministry of Defense, through Dinacia, is still under review. El País added that the airport would be installed at the level of a property spanning hundreds of hectares owned by businessman Eduardo Costantini, who plans a subdivision there for private farm plots.
Sources
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 do its own reporting on this event.
