The national government, Santiago del Estero, and Catamarca are preparing the signing that will formally launch the Red de Acueductos y Plantas Potabilizadoras Albigasta. The infrastructure will have an investment of 99,769 million pesos, financing from Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, and an estimated term of 36 months. Its objective is to expand access to drinking water for more than 35,900 inhabitants of both provinces.
The project includes two water treatment plants and approximately 50 kilometers of aqueducts. The combination will allow the resource to be treated and distributed to the affected localities, instead of limiting the intervention to a single stage of the system. The reported impact is direct on the beneficiary population, although the schedule by section and the sequence of commissioning of each component still need to be specified.
The agreement will be signed by the Chief of Staff, Diego Santilli, and the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, along with the governors Elías Suárez, of Santiago del Estero, and Raúl Jalil, of Catamarca. The activity was scheduled for the coming days in Catamarca territory, but it was rescheduled for the following week due to weather factors. The modification shifts the date of the event, not the announced scope of the work.
The IDB financing will be the economic basis for an execution that must extend over three years. During that period, the authorities must coordinate linear works, plants, and connections between two jurisdictions. The total amount constitutes the budget reported for the project, not an immediate transfer to each province nor a sum already executed on the ground.
The official visit will also include an additional agreement between the Nation and Catamarca. This agenda will cover works on national roads and the cancellation of reciprocal debts. These are commitments different from the Albigasta aqueduct: they will share the political instance of signing, but they have their own purposes, mechanisms, and obligations that should not be confused with the loan intended for water infrastructure.
The first verifiable step will be the rescheduled signing and the formalization of the execution plan. Afterwards, the construction fronts, the included localities, the disbursement milestones, and the construction schedule of the two plants and the 50 kilometers of network must be known. If the 36-month term is met, the expected result will be a regional system capable of expanding the supply of drinking water for more than 35,900 people in Santiago del Estero and Catamarca.
