16 months after having paralyzed all Infrastructure projects and after the dissolution of the national entity that He managed the investments of the water sector; The Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo decided to open the wallet to carry out the first public works of sanitation of libertarian management.
In the midst of a political agreement with the provincial authorities, the Mileista Administration enabled the call to national public tender to award the works destined to complete the “second aqueduct for the interior of the Chaco” with a budget of $ 71,305 million contributed by the nation.
Through resolution 459/25, Caputo authorized the beginning of the bidding process for “the completion and commissioning of the comprehensive water system” of the aqueduct of the Chaco province that had been paralyzed at the end of 2023.
After highlighting “the strategic importance of the work imposes the need to adopt urgent measures to ensure its culmination and commissioning”, the resolution of the economic portfolio established that the tender “will be carried out in the single stage, under the raised adjustment system, without payment of financial advance and with an execution period of 720 calendar days.”
The work at stake has an extension of 512 kilometers and It will allow supplying drinking water to 26 locations in the province of Chaco where 417,000 inhabitants currently live who, according to demographic projections, in the next 20 years will amount to a total of 683,000.
The “Second Chaco Aqueduct” records a physical advance of 82% and the remaining package covers raw water collection works, pipe extension, a water treatment plant, pumping stations, load cameras, air valves and electromechanical and electrical components.
When the tender is carried out by the raised adjustment system, the adjudicating companies undertake the works for a unique and global sum, accepting that the amount cannot be modified for more that variations in the inputs and works necessary for the fulfillment of the contract may arise.
The works of the aqueduct had started in 2010 and were in charge of an UTE composed of the OAS, Supercement and Ravella Carranza construction companies.
The project and financing were until December 2023 under the orbit of the National Exempt of Sanitation Water Works (ENOHSA) and the provincial company Chaco of Drinking Water.
After its landing in the Casa Rosada, the management of Javier Milei ratified the paralysis of the works that had been registered a few months before and began to negotiate with the province some alternative for the resumption of the work that was missing for the completion and commissioning of the aqueduct in full service.
Libertarian Management: Luis Caputo will tender the first public works of the water sector
In mid -2024, the Ministry of Public Works, led by Luis Giovine, signed an agreement with the province of Chaco for which the nation was going to continue with the financing and execution of the works through ENOHSA.
But last November, the libertarian administration decided to eliminate that agency that had been created in 1995 during the Government of Carlos Menem in order to administer public works linked to water and sanitary infrastructure throughout the country.
According to the official story, the dissolution of the ENOHSA was due to the overlap of its functions with other state entitiesthe lack of supporting documentation, delays in the progress of direct works and purchases instead of tenders, among other irregularities.
After the closure of the entity, most of the staff and the budget items that were assigned were transferred to the Undersecretariat of Water Resources that the Cordoba Bernardo Heredia has been driving for two months.
In the last week of December 2024; The Interior Cabinet Vice Chief, Lisandro Catalán and the Secretary of Infrastructure Coordination, Martín Maccarone – who responds to Minister Caputo – signed with the Chaco authorities the final agreement for the termination of the aqueduct.
Before Caputo received the approval to launch the tender of the works, the Casa Rosada sealed a political agreement with the governor, Leandro Zdeero so that freedom progresses (lla) and Chaco radicalism go together in the next elections.
The Alliance – which closed the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei and the provincial president – contemplates that both forces share lists in the provincial legislative elections of May and in the national elections of October.
After the agreement, the Nation authorized the disbursement of a financial advance of $ 120,000 million for the province that were used by Zdero to meet current expenses and the payment of debts.
The help from Milei to Zdero was channeled through Decree 190/25 on the argument that the province “is temporarily impeded, of financially attending certain commitments, so it is necessary to provide immediate solutions to those financial difficulties.”
The decree stipulates that the funds must be returned by automatic retentions of co -participation and It will accrue interest according to the wholesale rate of Argentina (Tamar)which is the average interest rate paid by banks for fixed term deposits of more than $ 1 billion.
The repayment mechanism will be carried out through automatic retentions of the co -participible resources that Chaco receives and if necessary, the nation may extend the return period without exceeding the fiscal year in which it is granted.
