Mexico’s third infra package could include 15 waterworks

The third package of Mexico’s 2020-24 national infrastructure program (PNI) could include 15 water works, according to Francisco Cervantes Diaz, head of private sector association CCE.

The proposals are still being analyzed, he told an event Wednesday, daily El Sol de México reported. 

Adding these works is one reason for the delay in presenting the package, Cervantes said. Presentation has been delayed since last year and the overall content of the package is still unknown.

“The announcement is what we are waiting for, we have more works to include. It is one of the reasons [why the PNI is delayed]. Right now 15 new works are being evaluated for the third package, we do not know whether to include them in this [program] or wait for another,” he reportedly said. 

Months ago, private sector leaders said the package was ready, but the government decides when to present it. It is unknown why the government hasn’t done so. 

Cervantes told the daily he would ask President Andrés Manuel López Obrador about the other reasons for the delay during the inauguration of the Olmeca oil refinery in Tabasco state.

The first and second PNI packages, requiring private investments above 50% of the total, were presented in October and December 2020, respectively. Package one included 39 projects and the second 29 for a total of 526bn pesos (US$25.7bn).

Although the content of package three has not been made public, highway development department head Rogelio Mauricio Rivero said in July the package could also include up to 15 communications and transportation projects involving 70bn pesos.