Uruguay’s Ministry of Housing and Land Management (MVOT) together with the Municipality of Tacuarembó and the Municipality of Paso de los Toros, handed over keys to 48 houses for the relocation of local families who were living in settlements in the city. This delivery is part of UPM's promised contribution of 500 temporary housing units to be converted into permanent housing.
The new homes were originally built as housing modules used by building workers during construction of the UPM Paso de los Toros pulp mill from 2019 to 2023. The local company Volfer Ingeniería who built these modules for the mill project also transformed them into permanent homes.
The handover event at the Charrúa Complex in Paso de los Toros on 5 February was attended by the Minister and the Undersecretary of MVOT, Raúl Lozano and Tabaré Hackenbruch, the Mayor of Tacuarembó Wilson Ezquerra, the representative of the National Directorate of Social and Urban Integration (DINISU) Florencia Arbeleche and the Mayor of Paso de los Toros Luis Irigoin, among other local authorities and UPM representatives.
Minister Lozano thanked UPM for its commitment to local communities and stressed that boosting the lives and livelihoods of beneficiaries of housing policies one of MVOT's greatest contributions. "The Government invested in the future of the people and to change the reality of these people with decent homes," he stressed.
Nicolás Ugarte, General Manager of UPM Paso de los Toros, said: “This milestone makes us very happy and reaffirms the importance of well planned and executed large scale projects that generate permanent positive effects in the country. We are proud to be part of the development of communities in the inland of the country where we operate."
