| Work Detail |
The national governments decision to suspend public works and interrupt current contracts brought an immediate reaction not only from companies in the sector, but also from residents of some sectors where important works were being carried out, and who, due to this measure, are now they feel affected.
Such is the case of the residents of Fray Mamerto Esquiú, who have been waiting for the long-awaited sewage network for three decades. The work included in this work began to be carried out in 2017, with the installation of the trunk pipe in the town of San Antonio, but to date not a single home connection has been made in this territory.
“We want to know what is going to happen with the sewer work for our department. More than 30 years ago they announced this work, and only in 2017 did they begin to lay the pipes, but no connection was made in any home, and now it appears as one of the works that will be paralyzed due to the crisis. economy of the country, despite the fact that the extension of the network was announced three months ago,” said Olga, a resident of San Antonio.
“The national government must prioritize sending funds for certain works, like this one that has to do with the health of the population. In the 21st century, and in the Central Valley, in a place where some dare to call it a city, we cannot continue so far behind in matters of public health. It is a vital work that must be completed, we have waited a long time and we have endured everything that the beginning of the work entailed,” said Mario, another resident of the sector.
Chronology
In the 90s, various programs financed by international organizations (IDB, WB, IBRD) were executed in Argentina. In this framework, the municipalities of Valle Viejo, led at that time by the mayors Gustavo Jalile (Valle Viejo) and Oscar Vera (Fray Mamerto Esquiú), managed through the National Entity of Water Works of Environmental Sanitation (ENHOSA) the implementation of the feasibility study to carry out the work “Sewage drainage project”, which would benefit these localities in the Central Valley of Catamarca.
This initiative made considerable progress, reaching the stage of preparing the executive project, which was in the hands of ENHOSA, since the end of 1999, but the political, economic and social crisis experienced during the years 2000 and 2001 paralyzed the management of projects of this type, so that the work was not put out to tender.
Then changes in political management occur, both at the national, provincial and municipal levels, but even so, both municipalities, managers of the initiative, maintained interest in carrying out said works.
Push from neighbors
In 2010, a group of neighbors from Valle Viejo, grouped together in an association they called “Neighborhood Power,” resumed efforts to make the dream of having a sewage system come true. In this sense, they met with municipal, provincial and even national authorities to convey the needs of the farmers neighbors. They raised thousands of signatures and took them personally to the Casa Rosada to ask for this work, and for a New Hospital for Valle Viejo. The latter became a reality in 2011, but they continued to closely follow administrative progress of the sewer work, until the work was reactivated in 2014.
First works
In June 2014, the construction of the sewage network system for the Valle Viejo department began. With a budget of 515 million pesos, and a completion period of 24 months, the work was not only not completed in the planned time, but, from its beginning, it was plagued by defects that delayed it, such as the relocation of the effluent treatment plant located in the town of Antapoca, the delays in excavations, and subsidence in the areas where the trunk pipes had been placed.
As a result, in 2016, the municipality of that department then headed by Gustavo Jalile intervened, who reported irregularities, going so far as to prosecute and paralyze the work, until "the poorly done work" is repaired.
In 2017, the work resumed, and in that year, the same company launched the work for Fray Mamerto Esquiú, in whose first stage, the extension of the trunk network was carried out on provincial route No. 41 in the town of San Antonio.
In 2022, the Aguas de Catamarca SAPEM company began to link the works backbone network, in Valle Viejo, to those fronters who reside in homes where the backbone network passes, such as on Presidente Castillo Avenue, San Isidro and Sumalao. Meanwhile, in Fray Mamerto Esquiú, no home connection was made.
Quality of life
The sewer drainage system – if it works correctly – will generate improvements in the living conditions of the population, constituting a fundamental human right, taking into account that it has a strong impact on the health of the population. The lack of this service , is a clear indicator of poverty that leads to a poor quality of life, also promoting the proliferation of water-borne diseases, even more so if the soil layers are saturated, generating land contamination. |
