Efforts to end open-air dumps in the Alto Valle advance

Governor-elect Alberto Weretilneck met yesterday with the Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation to request that progress be made with the project of Integral Management of Urban Solid Waste (GIRSU) of Cipolletti. The project is promoted by the provincial government in conjunction with six municipalities of Río Negro. The goal is to end open-air dumps.

In the middle of 2022, six municipalities of the Alto Valle together with officials of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation met at the Cipolletti Cultural Complex to participate in the public consultation on the Integral Management of Solid Urban Waste (GIRSU) project. Neighbors, neighborhood referents, recuperators and civil organizations, together with the provincial actors discussed the implementation of the project. At the end of that year, the tender for the project was expected, but there was no announcement prior to the April 16 elections.

With the triumph of the leader of Juntos Somos Río Negro, Alberto Weretilneck, the project seems to be moving forward. After the meeting with the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Argentine Nation, Juan Cabandié, Weretilneck reported that the works were included in the 2023 national budget, based on efforts he made together with the deputies Agustín Domingo and Luis Di Giacomo.

He explained that the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, through the Secretariat for Environmental Control and Monitoring and in conjunction with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), cNegotiations began to request the second tranche of the loan for the creation of the environmental center for comprehensive waste management urban solids (GIRSU). The work will be managed with a total investment of 450 million dollars.

On the other hand, they announced that a technical team from the ministry and representatives of the IDB, visited all the properties where the treatment centers are expected to be located and where the open-air garbage dumps will be cleaned up. In turn, the teams held a meeting with the mayors of the towns to present progress on the projects in the territory.

The actions contemplate the delivery of tools and machinery for the management of open-air dumps in places without adequate final disposal. Inputs are also provided to improve the work of urban recuperators through separation plants, machinery with presses, glass and rubble grinders, tire processors and chippers, among others.

The initiative will benefit six cities from Río Negro: Cipolletti and Allen -where the works will be arranged-, Cinco Saltos, Fernández Oro, Campo Grande and Contralmirante Cordero.