| Work Detail |
The construction industry is waiting to find a way to gradually fill some 12,000 jobs in Tucumán.
The return of public works to Tucumán has raised expectations in the construction sector, which has been experiencing critical months due to a lack of financing and rising unemployment.
The secretary general of the Uocra, David Acosta, explained to LA GACETA that between the end of 2023 and today, more than 5,000 jobs were lost in this sector. “If all the works are restarted and the Nation complies with the sending of funds, those more than 5,000 colleagues will be able to return to work,” he said. And he stated that, if this happens, the sector will once again cover about 12,000 jobs in the province. “We know that it will not be something immediate, but progressive,” Acosta clarified.
More than 80 projects could be reactivated as a result of the agreement signed weeks ago by the Province and the Nation. According to the announcement, this will allow an investment of $120,000 million to resume paralyzed works. Among the first works to be reactivated are the repaving of two sections of route 307, in the Calchaquí valleys; and the San Felipe treatment plant. In addition, housing and water and sewage works will be restarted, among other areas.
10 key points about the reactivation of public works
1) How will the $120 billion announced by the Government be invested?
Following the agreement signed by Governor Osvaldo Jaldo and the Chief of Cabinet of the Nation, Guillermo Francos, some $120,000 million will be injected into the reactivation of some 80 public works that remain suspended in Tucumán. 75% of the investment will be financed with federal resources, while the remaining 25% will be provided by the Tucumán treasury. Based on this agreement, the different areas of government will be able to move forward with the specific agreements for each project.
2) When will the first works in Tucumán resume?
The reactivation of the work on the San Felipe treatment plant (optimization of the treatment capacity and refurbishment of the plant) was announced for July 1. The head of the Sociedad Aguas del Tucumán (SAT), Marcelo Caponio, said that the payment of the certificates owed to the contractor for an amount greater than $206 million had already been made effective. In parallel, work was reactivated to repave route 307, in the Calchaquí Valleys, in the El Infiernillo-Ampimpa sections (about $14,000 million that will be transferred by the Nation) and Amaicha-Ampimpa (about $4,000 million that will be contributed by the Province). The Minister of Public Works, Santiago Yanotti, explained in an interview with LA GACETA Central, the LG Play newscast, that this week the pavement production plant was started up, after a year without operating. “With this, it is imminent to resume the work, what they are doing now is producing the material,” he explained.
3) What will be the impact on the business sector?
Jorge Garber, president of the Tucuman Chamber of Construction, stated that the situation facing the sector is not good. He compared the scenario to a household economy that runs out of resources. “Despite this, we have to continue paying for electricity, gas, services, food. But there is no income, so we live on loans. In our case, many companies are also getting rid of working capital, such as machines and land. The situation is difficult,” he told LA GACETA. However, he clarified that the agreement between the Province and the national Government offers “an encouraging outlook.” “Although the Nation maintains its position that it will not make public works viable, it is positive in that most of the works that the Nation carried out would be transferred to the provinces, and each province will arrange the numbers with the Nation to carry out these works, with funds already provincialized. It is still a great thing,” explained Garber.
4) What will happen with housing programs in the province?
Yanotti said in the interview with LG Play that during the last week a meeting was held with the inspector of the Provincial Housing Institute, Nora Belloni, to establish the guidelines for the reactivation of the more than 140 houses pending completion in the Manantial Sur neighborhood. In addition, housing projects belonging to the “Casa Propia” program in towns in the interior, such as Burruyacu, Simoca and Río Seco, are on the agenda. “We will have works in housing, education, security, and roads, and in water and sanitation; it will be a mixed financing, partly from the national government and partly from the provincial government,” he summarized.
5) When will the Benjamín Paz prison be ready?
The Minister of Public Works stated that the Benjamín Paz prison is more than 55% complete. In fact, this project is one of the few that remained in motion during the period of paralysis, thanks to the Provinces injection of $1,000 million each. "We are going to finish four pavilions that will be inaugurated at the end of the year, and the other four pavilions, which make up the first module, will be advanced. With this, at the end of the year we will be able to transfer about 600 or 700 people (deprived of liberty) to Benjamín Paz. It is something that we are working on with the Ministry of Security," he added. In addition, he said that the Delfín Gallo jail would be ready by October or November. "Once inaugurated, there will be about 220 places (for detainees)," he said.
PRIORITY. The EP wants to complete the first phase of the prison in Benjamín Paz before the end of the year.
PRIORITY. The EP wants to complete the first phase of the prison in Benjamín Paz before the end of the year.
6) What are the deadlines for repaving the valleys?
The repaving work on Route 307, which runs through the Calchaquí valleys, will not only bring benefits to the residents of the different towns that the road passes through (El Infiernillo, Amaicha del Valle, among others), but will also have an impact on tourism, according to authorities. With the task back underway, the section in charge of the Province is expected to be ready immediately. “The commitment that the company made with the governor in a meeting we had was that it will be finished by the end of the year. The other section will take a little longer, because it is longer. We estimate that it could be ready by the first months of 2025,” Yanotti told LG Play.
7) What happens with access to San Miguel de Tucumán?
Yanotti stressed that, based on coordinated work by the Minister of the Interior, Darío Monteros, with the mayors of Greater San Miguel de Tucumán and different areas of the Executive Branch (such as the Community Infrastructure Agency), progress has been made in recent weeks with different works to clean, repair and beautify the accesses to the city. These tasks have an immediate objective: to provide an appropriate framework for the visit of President Javier Milei for the events of July 9. Beyond this, the Minister of Public Works warned that acts of vandalism and other negative behavior permanently force the different state agencies to renew investments and efforts. "When trucks circulate with more weight than they should, when someone breaks a light or steals a cable or when graffiti is done, it costs us more to beautify (the accesses) again," Yanotti emphasized.
8) Are projects for municipalities and communes contemplated?
Minister Monteros confirmed to LA GACETA a few days ago that work is being done on projects for specific improvements in the rural communities of the province. At the same time, the Government has in its files the files for important investments in water and sewage, such as the treatment plants and sewage networks in Alderetes, Banda del Río Salí, San Andrés, Aguilares and Concepción. In this regard, Jaldo met yesterday with the mayor of Bella Vista, Paula Quiles, to inform her that there was news regarding the completion of the project “Storm channel, paving, bike lanes and lighting of Avenida Independencia”. “The governor arranged with the Nation -by including it in the package of works- the signing of certificates to finish the work since it is 98% complete”, confirmed Quiles. And she added that this infrastructure work was carried out with funds from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
9) When will the work for the airport renovation be put out to tender?
In parallel with the agreement with the Nation for the restart of public works, the approval was obtained for the work for the renovation and expansion of the Benjamín Matienzo airport. As Yanotti explained to LG Play, the company Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 has the specifications ready. However, some administrative procedures remain to be resolved -subject to the recent designation of national officials- for the tender to go ahead. “We hope to have this process concluded before the end of the year,” said Yanotti.
10) Will flights be affected by the work?
The work at Benjamín Matienzo will require an estimated investment of 45 billion dollars. But the magnitude of the work will not affect flights arriving and departing from Tucumán. “The construction period is more than a year. The time is extended because the airport is not rendered useless. When the runway was extended (years ago) we had to leave from Las Termas or Salta. But on this occasion the airport will continue to operate during the construction period. This makes it go slower (in its execution), but speaking with Tourism, we consider that it is much better this way,” explained the Minister of Public Works in the interview with LA GACETA Central.
Source: https://www.lagaceta.com.ar/ |
