The Secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado, asked the population to be calm due to the lack of water in the country, especially in the metropolitan area; In addition, he announced a number of measures to counter this and assured that “supply will be maintained under existing water conditions for the entire population, until the rains come to replace the contingencies.”
with the Minister of Public Health, Karina Rando; Social Development, Martin Lema; and Environment, Robert Bouvier, Delgado recalled that “Uruguay is going through the worst water shortage since it was recorded for 74 years.”
“The measures we are taking, which have been resolved today and which are in process, ensure the supply of this quality of water until the rains arrive,” said the Secretary of the Presidency, reiterating that the water supplied by the OSE ” suitable for human consumption and all essential aspects of life”: for “consumption, cleaning, cooking and sanitation”.
In addition, he urged “not to irrigate with OSE water, not to wash cars, try to turn off the taps at unnecessary times”, and to avoid “overstocking” from “people who want to buy bottled water”. asked for, because those drums buy more are less for others who want to buy”.
With regard to “immediate measures” ordered by the government, he listed five.
First, the government will try to “ensure the stability of the water reserves” that currently supply the metropolitan area, and to that end “it will build a dam next week to ensure the stability of the Paso Severino, which will maintain the status And today we have water quality”.
Secondly, the national government coordinated an agreement on Tuesday between the OSE and the Congress of Mayors to “expedite the repair of all the damages that the OSE has in its network of water supply pipes”, which “in some departments has reached 50 reach %”. Delgado announced that he would like to “involve the municipalities and the OSE” in these repairs.
Third, they announced that they are “evaluating the tariff aspects that were handled today with the Ministry of Economy, especially the incentives for those who contribute to the effort to responsibly consume OSE water that can be found in metropolitan cities today.” supplied to the population in the area”.
Fourth, he explained that the government wanted to “generate water of a slightly better quality”, which led, in consultation with the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, to “purchase a desalination plant designed by UTEC”. [Universidad Tecnológica del Uruguay], which will definitely be operational by next week”. In the same sense, “the reverse osmosis plant in Punta del Tigre that UTE has, a desalination plant like UTEC, which will be available for water distribution” will also be used. and, in turn, “an OSE bagging plant was commissioned to enable sachet [o bolsa] The water, which would be provided by the fields or water treatment plants that were built in this period of the government, mainly those of Cuyu, Balneario Argentino, La Floresta or Pan de Azúcar ”.
Fifth, he explained that he wanted to “pay more attention to the most vulnerable and at-risk areas.” Within this framework, “CAIF all over the country and INAU centers [Instituto del Niño y Adolescente del Uruguay] They are consuming bottled water, apparently of optimum quality.” In addition, 467 ANEP (National Public Education Administration) schools “are guaranteed optimum quality water” to “residential and elderly homes, hospitals in the metropolitan area”. which today has 67,000 children in the metropolitan area. These measures are added to measures announced by the Ministry of Social Development (Mides) in recent days: Pregnant women receiving the Family Allowance-Equity Scheme and up to two years of age There is the possibility of vouchers for two liters per day for children of bottled water. To this has been added the aid of MIDs for older patients.
Monitoring and Peace of Mind
“The government will monitor the price of bottled water. In some cases there may be conditions that do not correspond to reality”, since “demand is absolutely incremental”, acknowledged Delgado, who added that “not only will they monitor prices, but also implement possible imports of water and Leaving too, if necessary”.
“It is important to give peace of mind to the population. The supply will be maintained under the current conditions of water for the entire population, until the rains come to replace the contingencies,” the Secretary of the Presidency stressed: “the people give peace of mind that the water they have today, which may have certain sensory conditions that may not be entirely palatable to some, is suitable for human consumption, but at the same time we are able to consume it, clean it providing security of supply for cooking and sanitation”.
“Obviously we have other kinds of measures that are going to be implemented in case this situation persists for a longer period of time, which we hope will not be the case. Today we want to give a message of peace to the people that whatever the government has to do, it is doing it.”
Companies and wells
Received in Torre Ejective by the mayors of Montevideo, Canelones and Lavalleja (Carolina Cose, Yamandu Orsi and Mario García, respectively) meeting in Torre Ejecutiva to analyze new measures to combat water scarcity was held a day after it was done. Given the scarcity of fresh water by OSE to make it potable.
The Mayor of Flores, Fernando Echevarría, President of the Congress of Mayors, participated in the meeting this Tuesday with Delgado and the ministers, who will send to their colleagues the proposal that the communes collaborate with the OSE in repairing the broken pipes that generate water Are. Harm.
After the announcement of the measures adopted, Delgado clarified some information, which was released by Raul Monteiro, President of the OSE, at the end of the meeting this Monday at the Torre Ejecutiva. The secretary to the presidency said, “The chairman of the OSE said that 18 days were for water reserve, but with the dam being built next week, we are going to ensure water supply for the metropolitan area.” ,
Also mentioned the condition of Khan. “Half the minuses already have a guaranteed supply; Second, with a dam and drainage system being worked on, the supply is assured,” Delgado explained.
When asked whether the government communicated with large companies that consume large amounts of water, Delgado replied: “We have communicated with them because they are as responsible as any other part of the population. We talk because do so that they start using the well or make [pozos] To use the water they need.
On the other hand, he said that “some” of the measures presented by Kose are in line with the measures to be implemented, but that with others “he disagrees.”
Delgado clarified that building the dam in Paso Severino “is not going to improve the quality of the water.” “We are going to stabilize the current levels and ensure supply,” he said.
Finally, the Secretary to the Presidency said that it was “impossible” to predict the situation because it is an extraordinary drought.
Aarazati and the impact of the campaign
“I’m not going to talk about what could have been done and what was not done. That’s another discussion. We’re working on today and tomorrow,” Delgado said at the start of the press conference at the Torre Ejecutiva. Said, “This government is working on an alternative project to supply a safe and inexhaustible source of drinking water: the Arazati Project. It is an essential task, an alternative source to what exists today, which will ensure Makes it possible that this type of situation will never happen again.”
Regarding Arzati, he recalled that “it is a $250 million job” and that “on June 6 the bidding envelopes will be opened to start its construction and to complete it in two years.”
“Also, in terms of water quality and people’s lives and public health, the government is launching a tender for the sanitation of 61 cities in the interior of the country for $284 million. These works are the biggest investment by the OSE in the last 150 years, and have to do with the quality of life of the people,” he said.
On the other hand, he pointed out that “public good campaigns and people’s responsibility have already contributed to a 10% saving in water consumption”, but he stressed the claim: “We need more, that people use water.” Use exactly for need.
“Today we are supplying water with slightly higher sodium and chloride levels,” acknowledged the secretary of the Presidency, who stressed that these levels are authorized by the Ministry of Public Health.
