"We announced the North Plan in January, a few days after initiating our management and made a call to all the related social, economic and political sectors to work jointly to develop a common proposal. We work for more than 90 days and in May we made the presentation in Reconquista," he explained.
The initiative to submit this bill is "not only for us as governors to make a commitment but for the future governments and to make it a real State Policy and could be sustainable in the long term", said.
"It is the expression of the Santafesinos political will to promote the development of the North; because this is not only a public work plan, it is above all an economic and social development for the coming decades".
Lifschitz said, "The idea is to make this great political agreement real through a law, because all the expressions that are valid in the North of Santa Fe were seated at the table; and on the other hand, I think that this is going to have unanimous approval in both houses, it is a message to the current inhabitants of the North so that they feel that there is a support, that there is a consensus, an agreement of the province to promote the development of the region."
"We are going to work actively in the remaining period of government to materialize a good part of the projects", as it can be seen in "road infrastructure, the Reconquista hospital, aqueducts, power generation works;" "but also there are projects of smaller scale that have much social impact, which have to do with setting up industries, the support to regional economies and entrepreneurs".
"The idea is that the northern region will change for the better, with more development, with a higher population and with more industries and work; and it seems to us that we must do our best to do so".
The Governor thanked "those who have been part of this work and those who have fought for the North for decades. We have to make this North Plan real, so in a few years we will not see differences between the south and north in the province, at least in terms of growth and development".
Finally, Lifschitz thanked the participants in the project for contributing and asked them to continue working together to make that document a reality in the three departments".
In the ceremony carried out in the city of Santa Fe, the Governor also presented a book on the North Plan, which describes and explains its three lines of action: territorial integration, regional roots and economic development; the collective and comprehensive work that involved its formulation, through local authorities boards, business and productive organizations forums, and civil society forums.
A WELL-BALANCED DEVELOPMET THROUGHOUT THE PROVINCE
The Minister of Government and Reform of State, Pablo Farías, said, "This message, this project seeks to capture in a law what was already initiated by decree and brought together the Ministers of Production, Infrastructure and Government to design this plan".
“The aim is to make a real State policy. The bill not only reflects the spirit of the North Plan but also fixes a budget category, i.e. from now on budgets will have a special category, a specific item that identifies the North Plan and this also reinforces the idea that investments and development will be followed up".
"The projects have already been started, there is a great number that are underway, and there are many works that have been awarded. Consequently, the North Plan is already underway and it is great that we can consolidate it with a legal instrument that ensures that the goal will be reached: a well-balanced development of the province", he concluded.
126 PROJECTS
The Coordinating Secretary, Sergio Rojas, recalled that "this began formally with a decree, which has its backgrounds in the Strategic Provincial Plan, vision 2030. Many of the projects are in that plan and others have been included by this administration after forums with local authorities, with communal presidents, mayors, lawmakers, where we could identify other projects that were finally added."
"We submitted 110 projects in Reconquista, and in the publication you can see 126 that were incorporated after this presentation. The idea is that others can be incorporated after the northern citizens identify what is needed to achieve these two objectives: development and settlement", he added.
Finally, he said, "From now on, the legislators have the responsibility for making it a truly state policy, so no matter what the next government is, it can continue enriching this proposal".
The North Plan is an initiative that seeks to make a qualitative leap forward in the transformation of the provincial north, stepping up the presence of the State in the departments of Vera, 9 de Julio and General Obligado, in order to reduce the territorial, social, economic and productive gaps resulting from a development model in favour of the provincial south and centre for more than 150 years.
MAYORS AND LEGISLATORS
Provincial deputy Estela Jacuzzi said, "These three departments have small populations because the young migrate, so this plan is going to be very important for them and the families living there to set up roots. What we have to do is to approve this plan and give effectiveness".
Along that same line, Deputy Gregoret, stressed, "It is important to fulfill the promises given during the campaign as we said that we would make a plan for the North. This day is doubly historic, because we are fulfilling something, and we are complying with our word, which is what the people want to".
Vera’s Mayor, Reynaldo Fabroni, said, "It is a historical reparation for the northern people; with this plan that the Governor pledged to carry out, and this bill which gives it even greater solidity and that is certainly well received".
Reconquista’s Mayor, Enrique Vallejos, said that this initiative "contains emblematic works which are going to give the opportunity to develop as other regions of the province and the country, so we are ready to start working closely with each of the proposals".
Tostado’s Mayor, Enirque Mualem, remarked: "We are all involved in this North Plan, we are part of it. That’s why we are here, to say thank you, thank you for this decision to develop the North".
Finally, the Senator from the 9 de Julio Department, Joaquin Gramajo, said, "After the first stage, that was the promise in campaign, and second, that will be the passing of the bill, it will come the third, in which we will be inaugurating works and then we will be able to say that we have fulfilled the dream of governors with a federal idea as the Brigadier Lopez and Silvestre Begnis, and I add Governor Lifschitz because he has kept his promise".
ATTENDANCE
Of the Act, performed in the salon white of the House of Government, participated also the National Deputy national Marcos Cleri, Ministers and Secretaries of State of the provincial cabinet, provincial legislators, mayors and municipal presidents, authorities and deans of faculties, among others took part in the ceremony held at the House of Government.
