“It’s a dream”. This is how Juana de la Cruz, a social leader from Cheniao Island, two hours by boat from Quemchi, describes the approval of the road conservation project for her town. For this neighbor, the connectivity problems are “a worrying situation because the road has become dangerous, since it has been closed due to the growth of bushes, and the school van that brings the children from Voigue passes by every day, which is why it is important that the road is good conditions”.
This premise is shared by Claudio Santana, who lives in the Tranqui Island, in the municipal district of Queilen, and which will also benefit from the execution of another of these initiatives of high social impact. “We are looking forward to this project to have a more feasible and effective solution to our needs. This will provide us with benefits in terms of health, education and connectivity”, he says.
These types of stories are possible thanks to the proposals from the Convergence Roundtable for the development of lagging areas of Los Lagos, an innovative public-private alliance that has been implemented in the region. This is an unprecedented experience, which brings together the Regional Government, six municipalities, 12 companies in the region, and Huella Local, and that in just over a year has achieved the approval of more than 1.7 billion pesos to execute important projects in the remote islands of Chiloé and Calbuco (where four works will begin to be carried out during the next months).
“The work with Huella Local has been an innovation of this regional government. We have called on the private sector to take a specific look at the territories of backward areas, islands where they have productive activities, to collaborate. We managed to get them to contribute 120 million from the private sector the first year, around 150 the second year, which has meant that through this, Huella Local, with its specialized professionals, develops projects. And so we have been able to allocate, thanks to those projects that were developed, more than 1,7 billion pesos in important projects for those communities focused on connectivity, road improvement, rural electrification and above all, also very important, rural drinking water”, explains Jorge Vallespin, regional governor of Los Lagos.
In relation to the relevance of this alliance and the impact of its initiatives, the regional authority emphasizes that “thus, by innovating, working in public-private cooperation, our region is going forward. And next year we hope that there will not only be six projects in a position to seek financing, but that we will be able to advance a little more, seven, eight projects. That is the way to work together in public-private cooperation. We thank Huella Local for what it is doing and we will continue on that path because the private sector has also committed resources for next year to continue on that path”.
Scope
The Convergence Round Table for the Development of Lagging Areas of Los Lagos is made up of the Regional Government of Los Lagos; the municipalities of Quemchi, Puqueldón, Quinchao, Queilen, Quellón and Calbuco; and companies such as Yadran, Transportes Puelche, AquaChile, Invermar, Marine Farm, Fiordo Austral, Salmones Aysén, Mowi, Salmones Austral, Cermaq, Blumar, Camanchaca and Salmón Chile.
Its main challenge – and drive – is to mobilize public investment in territories where it has been complex to execute projects. This is evidenced in its latest reports, where 518 million have been announced in Tranqui Island (Queilen) and 660 million in Mechuque (Quemchi) to carry out, in the next months, the conservation of roads to improve local connectivity of these territories. In addition to these initiatives, there are more than 540 million in investments for the installation of photovoltaic panels that will provide energy access to isolated communities in Quellón.
“We are pleased to see, after the study phase, that we can now count on projects that are being executed, demonstrating how successful the public-private collaboration is, which ends up being reflected in thousands of people benefiting in the south of the country and that today they can have a better quality of life thanks to the projects that have been raised by the Development Round Table of Los Lagos. We hope to continue promoting new projects that go in this direction and again we thank our partner companies that make these projects possible,” said Felipe Díaz, director of communities at Salmón Chile.
Regarding the projections and the positive balance of the alliance in 2023, César Barrientos, director of the Southernmost Zone of Huella Local, says that “this experience demonstrates the potential of collaboration, installing a governance model where public management is supported and enhanced, the contribution that the private world can make is valued, and the articulating potential of civil society organizations is highlighted. We hope to continue working with this spirit to address such relevant challenges as improving access to drinking water or electricity for the most isolated communities in our region.”
This unprecedented alliance is articulated by Huella Local, an organization that is present in more than 50 municipal districts in Chile, from Arica to Timaukel, and that has developed more than 270 projects for more than 65 billion pesos in its eight years of activity.
Source: www.osornoenlared.cl
