Paraguay to inaugurate 275 kilometers of the Bioceanic Road Corridor

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Paraguay will inaugurate on Friday, February 25, the first section of the 275 kilometers of the Bioceanic Road Corridor that connects the towns of Loma Plata, in the department of Boquerón, and Carmelo Peralta, in Alto Paraguay. The project required an investment of US$445 million and is being carried out on a turnkey basis.

When the entire route from east to west of the Paraguayan Chaco is completed, it will connect the most important maritime ports of the Pacific Ocean in Chile and the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil, generating thousands of additional jobs and endless opportunities for all the people of Chaco.

The construction of the Bioceanic Road Corridor represented the road development of the Paraguayan Chaco and new opportunities for its inhabitants, especially for the native communities that were directly benefited by its social component.

These are the Indigenous Peoples Plan (PPI) and the Indigenous Communities Support Plan (PACI), led by the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC), through the Directorate of Social and Environmental Management (DGSA), and the Bioceanic Road Consortium.

The PPI seeks to mitigate potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts on indigenous communities and contribute to their economic and social participation by improving productive infrastructure, mobility and transportation, and education and training.

Both plans were built in a participatory manner to receive social and economic benefits, respecting their cultural vision.

In this context, 14 communities recognized by the Paraguayan State benefited, 11 of them belonging to the jurisdiction of Carmelo Peralta, two to the district of La Victoria, Alto Paraguay, and one community of Teniente Irala Fernández, department of Presidente Hayes.

The most important benefits include the delivery of animals for breeding and reproduction, various equipment for agricultural development, community infrastructure, road construction, etc.

Also noteworthy is the training to boost the economy, technical assistance, medical and health care, and, finally, job training to strengthen the cultural identity of the beneficiaries.