After President Gabriel Boric gave his third Public Account, the MOP Minister, Jessica López, arrived yesterday in the Coquimbo Region to participate in the Regional Cabinet Council, where she addressed the agenda that is projected for the territory.
In the middle of a busy day, the Secretary of State took time to speak exclusively with Diario El Día about the progress of long-awaited initiatives, such as the La Serena Hospital, Route CH41 and the desalination plant for human consumption, among others. others.
Read also: La Serena Hospital: the great absentee in the presidential public account
– One of the mentions that both the community and the unions expected in the President’s Public Account was the La Serena Hospital, which has been paralyzed for more than a year. What is the current situation of the work?
“Although not everything can appear in the Public Account, due to the number of initiatives in all territories, we know the significance that the La Serena Hospital has and the first thing that must be said is that it has a current contract. Up to the minute it has complied with all the defined stages, but I am not going to refer to that further, because we are in full talks with the concessionaire, to be able to definitively resolve the discrepancy that we had in relation to the characteristics of the project and its budget.” .
– According to the conversations you have had with the concessionaire company Acciona, could you confirm that you have given up on ending the La Serena Hospital contract?
“No, nothing has been given up. If these conversations we are in were to fail, we would have to give up, but the conversation has been rather fruitful, therefore we are moving in the direction of being able to reach a definitive agreement that will allow us to continue with the works as soon as possible. For this reason, we have been working intensely, we would like to build the hospital with the current concessionaire company, because we understand that this is the fastest path.”
– At the beginning of May, the Budget Director, Javiera Martínez, indicated that construction could be resumed in the month of July. Will it be possible?
“I will not refer further on the subject.”
– Does the discovery of whale fossils at the Coquimbo Hospital work alter delivery times or are they maintained?
“In these situations there are certain protocols to follow and depending on the results of those first surveys, we will decide how to move forward. We hope to be able to reconcile the necessary care of these remains, – which are yet to be defined and their value -, with the need for the Coquimbo Hospital to continue advancing.”
Desalination plants and other solutions
– President Gabriel Boric ratified the tender for a desalination plant for human consumption for the second semester. Could you confirm a more specific date?
“Fourth quarter, that is the date we are working on, so we are doing very intense work in parallel with the detailed engineering and environmental impact studies, since we still have to obtain the Environmental Qualification Resolution (RCA).”
– In relation to the desalination project in the Talinay sector of Ovalle, conceived from its foundations as a multipurpose plant, is it still a possibility or is it definitively ruled out?
“It is a possibility that we are considering for the Province of Limarí (…) The situation in Ovalle and Sotaquí, although it is quite critical, has improved a little with the recent rains and accumulated snow, which has allowed us to have more months of slack, but we still need to design short-term solutions. Although a desalination plant resolves definitively, it does so in the medium term.”
– What short-term measures are you working on to combat the water crisis?
“In the Province of Choapa the drought situation is less pressing, since the reservoirs have more water and the Los Pelambres desalination plant has just been inaugurated, which will allow, in the short and medium term, the release of rights of water. In addition, the Hydraulic Works Directorate is always drilling new wells.
We are also going to take advantage of what the Environmental Qualification Resolution (RCA) of the Los Pelambres plant instructs, in terms of delivering seawater, since as a State we decided that we are going to build a desalination plant in Los Vilos, to treat that water that the mining company will give us. In this way, the supply of Rural Drinking Water Systems (APR) will be strengthened. At the same time, in the Quilimarí Valley we hope to resolve the APR situation with small modular desalination plants.”
-In the Province of Limarí the situation is quite worrying…
“In Limarí there are a set of new wells that are being built and others that are going to be rehabilitated. There are also solutions that have to do with better use of water, that is, not losing it in the channels. In addition, there is the power that the General Directorate of Water (DGA) has to intervene in the river eventually, to give priority to human consumption.”
– What would you say to the small farmers who today have had to close their fields and change fields? How are you working with them?
“We have been in conversations with the Ministry of Agriculture regarding how this impacts that sector and the different types of agriculture, since large citrus and grape plantations have different needs than vegetables. The State of Chile has to ensure in different ways that the public and private sectors adopt decisions that allow us to ensure water for all productive and social human activities. “We need to reduce our water footprint throughout the country, in agriculture, mining and human consumption.”
– What actions are being promoted to reduce the water footprint?
“We have to adopt measures for the treatment and reuse of wastewater, which is not done in the Coquimbo Region. They are important investments, as it was to build reservoirs, wells, desalination plants, therefore, we have to see how they are going to be financed, which could be by the State, the people and the productive sectors, including agriculture.”
-Would a wastewater reuse project be launched in the medium term?
“We want the sanitation company to make us a proposal regarding a wastewater treatment plant. We would have to find a way to reuse those waters later and see how much it would cost. In the scenario of water scarcity it is the most reasonable, as is done in the city of Santiago, where the water is deposited in the rivers and is reused by farmers.”
Roadworks
– In what state of progress is the ring road project between La Serena and Coquimbo?
“Due to its magnitude of resources, to execute it, we require the approval of the Technical Concessions Panel and the Concessions Council, which we hope to process during this month. Once we have these two approvals, the times and amounts, among other things, are agreed with the concessionaire company.”
– When do you plan to start the works?
“We want to start the works in the second half of 2025.”
-Will it be possible to inaugurate the first section of the double track on Route CH 41 (La Serena – Vicuña) before the end of the Government’s administration?
“We will do everything possible to accelerate what we can, because it is the end of a project that makes a lot of sense and that impacts people.”
– To what extent has it been expropriated and what dates are used?
“3.9 km have been expropriated from Avenida Panorámica to Quebrada Monardez, with 95% progress. This year the process should be completed, bidding at the end of the year, so that the works can begin in 2025.”
– Last year, the MOP ruled out resuming work on the El Olivar section of Route 5, which had been paralyzed for years. However, the traffic chaos at the northern entrance to the city is unsustainable and dangerous. What solution is the Government working on?
“One of the solutions is that the peripheral route leaves and connects with Route 5 after El Olivar, -passing through the east of the airport-, which will partially resolve the road situation, since it would allow internal circulation and that the traffic that continues north is diverted there, without prejudice to this sacred space.”
– What happened to the El Olivar Site Museum announced for 2023?
“This is being formulated in the Ministry of Cultures and the Arts, so it would be a work mandated by them and we would execute it. “It cannot be ruled out.”
– In relation to the Agua Negra Tunnel project, do you reaffirm your statements that it is not a priority for this Government? Because?
“What is a priority is that we have the elements to make a definitive decision, which eliminates uncertainty. We will do this after the study that is being carried out by the Ministry, regarding evaluating the different options that exist through the region, especially from Ovalle towards the Cordillera. The Agua Negra Tunnel is an option, but it is not the only one and we must evaluate them well.”
– At what stage is this study?
“In its bidding process.”
– The MOP seremi announced to our media that this year the modernization works at the La Florida airfield would begin. Are the deadlines maintained?
“If they are maintained, the preliminary works will begin in the second semester.”
– Considering the large investment to improve the standard of the aerodrome, is the MOP still evaluating “moving” the airport to another location, such as Tongoy? Or that is totally ruled out…
“It is not a possibility in the pipeline, because in 10 years we are going to remodel that airport, enlarging and improving its access to the peripheral, therefore it will stay there. However, in the southern area of Coquimbo the real estate development is such that eventually the demand could be generated to build a second airport, which could be local, in Tongoy or in another area.
