President announces a series of measures in housing, health, public spaces and security for the Tarapacá Region

From the municipality of Alto Hospicio, President Gabriel Boric announced a series of social and security measures that will improve quality of life for the inhabitants of the Tarapacá Region. 

The President was accompanied by a delegation of ministers and undersecretaries. He announced that they are working to eliminate sinkholes in the municipality of Alto Hospicio, as more than 2,000 homes are threatened by these dangerous events. 

“I have asked the minister and the regional secretary for this particular issue to be a priority. It’s going to be expensive; it’s going to be difficult. Discussions have taken place among technicians about how it’s to be done. There are houses that we’re going to have to demolish, and that is something that is also very difficult for residents to understand. But we have to move forward responsibly. I take that as one of the commitments,” he stated. 

Security 

In the area of security, the President recognized that types of crime in Chile have radically changed. Organized criminal gangs now have a modus operandi that has not previously been seen in the country. 

To confront it, he announced that the police presence in Alto Hospicio and Tarapacá will be strengthened and increased, with more vehicles, more police officers and more detectives to prevent, fight, investigate and prosecute crime. 

“Today, we are delivering 25 new vehicles to the municipality’s Carabineros (Uniformed police service), including trucks, radio patrol cars and motorcycles. This is in addition to the 10 vehicles that arrived in February. And for this I want to particularly thank the Regional Governor, the Regional Government and the Regional Councilors, because they all participated in approving the resources for these projects,” he stressed. 

Additionally, from this month, Alto Hospicio will have 30 new police officers and the region’s Policía de Investigaciones (Investigative police service, PDI) will have 20 new detectives to investigate homicide cases. 

Reinforcements for the Prosecutor’s Office 

The President announced that the new building for the Alto Hospicio Prosecutor’s Office is very close to completion and will be in operation in May. 

“In addition, last February the Tarapacá Regional Prosecutor was appointed as the preferred prosecutor to investigate all cases of homicide linked to criminal organizations that occur in the region. Two prosecutors from the Metropolitan Region have also been sent on duty to Tarapacá. The National Prosecutor, Ángel Valencia, recently told me this. In this way, we will more effectively persecute those who intimidate and harm the population,” he stated. 

Borders 

Regarding border care, President Boric stressed that today we have taken an important step with the deployment of the Armed Forces in the Colchane sector. 

“But I want to anticipate a problem that we could have: we tighten in Colchane, but (migrants) go to Pica. So, we have to anticipate that as well. Because of this, I have told the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry to keep this in mind. The mayor of Pica raised the issue with me and I want to take it up,” he stated. 

Health 

In the area of health, today the Alto Hospicio Hospital began to function in stages. “It’s a project that’s been long awaited by the community. The first of the progressive phases will be the outpatient area, which will serve more than 1,100 users in these first weeks and will be fully operational, in all stages, one year after the initial opening,” the President indicated. 

Housing 

With regard to housing, this 2023, work will begin on six housing projects for more than 1,300 families, with construction standards appropriate for saline soil. Housing and urban services (SERVIU) will also purchase a building to rent at a fair price. 

“The Housing Ministry is committing various actions to improve construction and safety on saline soil. This includes the repair of 82 buildings due to subsidence and sinkholes, changes and repairs to sanitary works and the contracting of geotechnical characterization studies. Four building are also going to be demolished, but these spaces are going to be used to provide better equipment for the housing complexes that already exist,” President Boric indicated. 

Public spaces 

“One of the things that the mayor reminded me at today’s meeting is that we have to build public services. That is why we are going to execute a master plan for the recovery of public spaces. The mayor is going to start with the design of three plazas in different sectors of Alto Hospicio, as well as the design of a new Plaza de Armas and a paving plan for three of the municipality’s most important roads, works on the first of which will begin in this year’s second semester,” the President concluded.