In the midst of the suspension of public works in Santa Fe and in the rest of the country, the National Government maintains its position. However, in recent weeks conversations have advanced with various provinces to establish mechanisms that allow them to take charge of the continuity of some projects.
This Tuesday, the Minister of Public Works of Santa Fe, Lisandro Enrico, will meet with national authorities of the area for the sixth time since the beginning of the negotiations Javier Milei and Maximiliano Pullaro. Like other provinces, Santa Fe is willing to take charge of the continuity of certain works, but raises the need to negotiate certain conditions because economically there is no possibility of generating a direct transfer.
“We are in this dialogue with the national government, but it is not a simple issue,” Enrico said this Monday on the Creo program, which is broadcast every morning on Air. There, the minister warned that Santa Fe’s idea is not to enter into discussions or go to trial with the Nation to determine who is responsible for paying for certain works, since in some cases “we must resolve it” because it involves infrastructure “used by the “santafesinos”.
“For example, access to the city of Santa Fe through the Western Beltway. It is a nightmare. We are going to finish it, even if it is a national route because they are not even in a position to cut the weeds. But we are not in economic conditions. to do all the works that the Nation does not do, because we have our own demands throughout the province,” he remarked. In general, all the works that the Nation financed in municipalities and communes of Santa Fe and the rest of the country were canceled in March. In Greater Santa Fe, the only project that, in theory, the central government will continue to finance, is the expansion of the water treatment plant. ASSA.
What will happen to national routes?
The Government of Santa Fe is particularly concerned about the state of the 20 routes that cross the province and which represent almost 2,800 kilometers. “People are starting to kill themselves to avoid wells,” Enrico acknowledged. As an example, at this Tuesday’s meeting the minister will once again ask the Nation that, if they cannot pay for the repair of Route 11, “the Government of Santa Fe will lay the asphalt and let them take care of the work.” “Can’t you maintain the access routes to the ports? Give us the route. The Province takes charge, we take care of the maintenance and conservation through a toll system,” he insisted.
Santa Fe’s idea is to find an effective solution to the problem. If the Nation will not invest a single peso in maintaining these routes and if the Province is not in a position to face the maintenance costs, the idea is to allow Santa Fe to make decisions about these roads and implement a system of tolls and concessions. , as there was in the past.
“Our criterion is to look for active solutions. Can’t you do it? Give us the opportunity. Like Córdoba did with Route 19. It established a toll system to keep it safe. Because what people don’t want is to pay for something he doesn’t have,” said Enrico. The minister recognized that the poor state of the national routes is not the exclusive responsibility of the Milei government, but “that we are paying the consequences of contracts that were made during the government of Alberto Fernandez, that left the routes full of wells.” Another issue that worries Santa Fe is the state of the routes that lead to the ports of Gran Rosario: “Either they give us national routes, or they stop charging truckers an unfair toll to walk from well or into well. “Those routes were repaired this summer with asphalt laid by the Province and a team of employees provided by National Roads.”
Regarding the idea that Santa Fe build a new section of the Highway Bridge between the Capital city and Saint tome, Enrico clarified that in that case no type of toll will be charged: “Maximiliano Pullaro’s decision is to do this work with Santa Fe funds, because he cannot wait any longer. We will have to see if the Nation authorizes us, because it is a national bridge.”
The idea of transferring national works to the provincial States arose from the Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos, after a meeting he held with governors from the north of the country. Subsequently, there were conversations in the same direction with the provinces of Mendoza, Entre Ríos, Río Negro, Córdoba and Neuquen.
