PROINVERSIÓN, the Peruvian private investment promotion agency under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, has urged the Provincial Council of Trujillo to reverse its decision and allow the continuation of the PTAR Trujillo wastewater treatment project. This initiative would protect the health and environment of approximately 1.9 million residents in Trujillo and Chepén through a US$398 million investment.

The request follows the Municipal Council’s refusal on August 26 to approve the necessary delegation of powers and competencies that would enable PROINVERSIÓN to keep structuring the project. Officials stress that this is not a proposal to start from scratch: the project already has about 85% of its structuring completed, is close to a Declaration of Interest, and has already required more than S/5 million in studies and technical work. Maintaining the rejection risks wasting that progress and delaying a needed solution for years.

PROINVERSIÓN addresses the main objections raised against the agreement—concerns about municipal debt, possible tariff increases, the proposed location of the PTAR Covicorti plant, and potential loss of municipal authority—arguing that these lack sufficient supporting evidence and can be examined technically during the ongoing structuring process rather than serving as grounds to cancel it. On the financial side, the agency clarifies that the delegation does not automatically impose a debt of more than S/1,500 million on the Municipality of Trujillo or SEDALIB; as a co-financed public-private partnership, the corresponding obligations would be assumed by the State. Tariff decisions remain under the authority of SUNASS, and the project itself can include state co-financing mechanisms if needed for operation and maintenance. Regarding the plant’s location, PROINVERSIÓN notes that a pre-investment study supports the Covicorti site, yet because the project is still in the structuring phase rather than execution, alternative proposals (including El Tablazo) can still be evaluated and, if appropriate, incorporated. 

PROINVERSIÓN warns that upholding the current rejection would have concrete consequences: postponing or losing a roughly US$398 million investment, delaying relief for a sanitary and environmental problem affecting 1.9 million people, prolonging impacts on Trujillo’s coastline, and jeopardizing the project’s place in the prioritized public-private partnership portfolio of the National Infrastructure Plan 2026–2031. It would also extend deficiencies in wastewater treatment and disposal that harm coastal areas of recreational and tourist importance such as Las Delicias and Huanchaco.