A Leap to Development: The Northern Horticultural Power Plant is now a reality

We see many headlines regarding the major scandals that haunt the national government and other problems. But from the north, we do not lose focus and we continue working, and making management and results speak for us. That is why, as an accountability for what has been done, it is good to talk about results.

The Northern Horticultural Center, that long-awaited project, is now a reality for the entire Department. At the end of last year, the construction of the plant was completed. It required 6 million dollars. Of the total investment of around 6 million dollars, 3 million were contributed by the Municipality of Salto.

We are currently working on the awarding of the posts in the horticultural center. To date, 30 premises have been awarded, and the interesting thing about this process is that several producers have joined forces to acquire a stand. These are spaces of 200 square meters each.

Moving forward in this project, the objective is to inaugurate the Central in February 2024 and between now and February, while we continue with the diffusion and adding new producers to the enterprise. We have already reached our initial objective, which was precisely to have these 30 awarded stalls, in order to start the operation of the Central, while new tenants are arriving.

What is also interesting about the Central's business model is that it is not only being integrated by producers from Salto, there are producers from all the northern region of the country and also operators and producers from the south, mainly from Canelones and Montevideo.

With a state-of-the-art infrastructure, the objective is that all the horticultural production, not only from Salto, but also a good part of the commercialization of the horticultural production of the north of the country can be carried out through the Central Hortícola del Norte.

In this sense, it is not only a matter of having the Horticultural Center working, but also of optimizing its operation. We have been achieving this through a complementary agreement between UAM and the Central Horticultural Center, taking into account that here in Salto and in the north, a good part of the production is temporary production. In this sense, the intention is that in the first months of the year the north supplies the south and in the second semester the other way around, that the south supplies fruits and vegetables to the north, in order to keep the whole horticultural commercialization chain operative.

While there are headlines of trouble everywhere, and the government has decided to abandon us with the absence of border policies, the truth is that everything is on track and we are raising our heads with a project that constitutes a multiplier effect.

As an example of public policy and public-private cooperation, we have been able to meet each of the objectives we have set. As a public manager, I dare to point out that it is one of the most interesting productive projects we have. Many years ago there was talk of having a power plant in the north of the country. Well, today it is a reality that became a reality during this period of government.