Initiatives to improve and preserve local roads for faster connectivity, clearing of weeds on the routes and construction of water supply points to combat forest fires, began to take shape with the signing of four agreements in the communes of Quirihue, Trehuaco, Ninhue and San Nicolás, which total an investment of $477,365,000. These are projects financed by the Regional Fund for Local Initiative (FRIL) that Governor Óscar Crisóstomo offered to each of the 21 municipalities of Ñuble to be better prepared during this summer season.
In detail, Quirihue will carry out the construction of a water supply point for cistern trucks and wells and the repair of roads with granular material for $119,419,000. Meanwhile, San Nicolás, through an investment of $119,331,000, will enable four fire water supply points and will improve the Los Olivos – Puyumavida and Cajón de la Maravilla roads, both of which connect with important routes.
In the case of Trehuaco, work will also be done on the conservation of roads and community equipment through firebreaks, mitigation zones around sensitive areas with the cleaning of undergrowth and dry vegetation; plus the application of granular material for faster connectivity. The cost of this initiative is $119,999,000.
Finally, the commune of Ninhue signed an agreement for $118,615,000 for the conservation of local roads, through profiling with a motor grader, stabilizing material, water passes and works of art on the tubes.
Regarding the benefits for the communes, Governor Crisóstomo commented that the projects that we announced in the month of October are “in full execution and progress, which were going to benefit the 21 communes, so that we could be much more prepared for the time. of fires. With them we are making progress in having more water supply points so that firefighters do not have to make so many trips and can reach fire control more quickly. To that, we have also added the improvement of strategic routes where fires are started regularly. , clearing bushes, cleaning in critical areas such as educational or health establishments. In this way, what we announced a couple of months ago is now in full progress and will allow us to be much better prepared for any emergencies that may occur in the coming weeks or months.”
Benefits in the communities
Regarding emergency projects, the mayor of Quirihue, Richard Irribarra, explained that he considers “water accumulators, which we are going to install in the Pajonal sector, to have a closer supply source for mainly helicopters, in the event that we had any. emergency and be prepared and prepared to be able to fight these fires. So I thank the governor and the Regional Council for having authorized these projects for Quirihue, and also for the good disposition they have always shown towards our community.”
In the same sense, the mayor of San Nicolás, Víctor Hugo Rice, referred to the “project, which is approximately 120 million, to install important drinking water points for firefighters in case of fires in our commune. We are going to have four points in different sectors with drinking water, so that the firefighters do not have to come to San Nicolás to look for water, but that the trucks and pump cars are immediately supplied from those points that we are going to have installed to to be able to fill them with water and continue fighting the fires. “A lot of time is wasted getting to the commune to look for water.”
Likewise, the mayor of Ninhue, Luis Molina, indicated that, thanks to the agreement signed with the governor, “they give us 118 million pesos that are for repairs to local roads, these resources are tremendously important for us because 98% of our roads are of land that deteriorate in the winter, and in the summer it is the subject of dust. These resources are very well received because we are going to be able to arrange them for the benefit of our neighbors.”
