President Andrés Manuel López Obrador proposed that the government of Nuevo León and the companies in that region of the country enter into an agreement to give priority to the domestic use of water over the industrial one, as a measure to face the scarcity of the liquid in the state.
López Obrador made the proposal during his morning press conference on Monday. In it, he assured that his administration has provided support to Governor Samuel García and will reinforce actions if necessary.
In this regard, he assured that one possibility is the agreement between the state government and companies.
“It is necessary, and I say this respectfully, an agreement there in Nuevo León; if necessary, we help, because preference should be given to domestic consumption. In an emergency situation, you have to prioritize and you have to give people first, not water for companies. It is a matter of defining priorities and also seeking agreements, because businessmen help if they are approached”, he said.
The president argued that as part of this agreement, companies could be offered tax benefits in exchange for giving up water for domestic consumption. However, he insisted: “These are decisions that must be made there.”
“We cannot intervene because it is a free, sovereign state, but there is a way out, the businessmen do help, we must make an approach to them,” he said.
López Obrador trusted that the water crisis in Nuevo León is “transitory” and will be resolved soon with the arrival of the rains.
The problem has been going on for several weeks now and has generated protests in the state, including roadblocks and citizens deciding to swim in the Paseo Santa Lucía canal in Monterrey.