21 November, 2011
Montes del Plata inaugurates housing solutions for workers in Colonia del Sacramento and Carmelo
Montes del Plata held the official opening of the workers neighbourhood in Colonia del Sacramento and the Housing Centre in Carmelo that will be used by those working in the construction phase of the company cellulose pulp industrial mill in Conchillas.
Colonia officials, including Dr. Pablo Manitto (General Secretary) and Dr. Miguel Asqueta (General Director for the Planning, Programs and Decentralization Department), along with Montes del Plata officials cut the ribbon to partially open these two housing complexes, which will be donated by Montes del Plata to meet the needs of the department once construction of the mill is completed. Carmelo Mayor Alejandro Brusco also attended the opening of the Housing Centre in that city.
Forty of the 150 houses were opened in the first stage of the complex that is being built in the El General neighbourhood in Colonia del Sacramento. A total of eight buildings are being constructed in the Carmelo Housing Centre.
The 60m2 houses have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The neighbourhood has sewage, streets and football fields, as well as other services.
The units feature aluminium clad sliding windows, metal exterior doors, wood interior doors, ceramic floors and ceramic-tiled bathrooms. Exterior walls are painted with waterproof acrylic paint.
The houses were built solely by Uruguayan companies, one of which is the department of Colonia.
Halfway through the year, Montes del Plata signed a contract for the construction of the units with the CALPUSA company, associated to the El Orejano firm of Colonia, which offered the best proposal in terms of economics, quality, durability, presentation and completion time. CALPUSA&rsquos proposal is based on the use of injected concrete in aluminium moulds.
The Leonardo Peyronel architecture company was hired to seek and evaluate proposals and to monitor construction progress. Since the onset, Montes del Plata had the intention to use these buildings for social purposes in the future. As such, the design of the houses was determined in collaboration with architecture experts at the municipality.
The Housing Centre, located adjacent to the Lomas del Carmelo neighbourhood, is being built by the Berkes company.
The Centre includes 22 buildings with 26 rooms each to house 80 operators in each sector. Each room is insulated and has air conditioning. The buildings feature exterior perimeter lighting and landscaping.
The Housing Centre also will have a fully-equipped kitchen and an air-conditioned dining area to serve 1,760 people. Also planned are a Social Centre, a 100 m2 covered laundry building and a Central Administration.
Exterior areas will include parking, two football fields with lighting, a perimeter fence and internal roads.
After the mill construction is completed, Montes del Plata will donate the entire neighbourhood in Colonia del Sacramento to the municipality, and the Housing Centre will likely also have a social use.
