The sale of the presidential plane will help fund a reliable water service for Zacualtipán, Hidalgo, President López Obrador told residents of the municipality on Tuesday.

The president made the commitment during a visit to the rural hospital in Zacualtipán, where residents complained that they only receive water once every 20 days, a situation that forces them to store water or purchase it from tanker trucks known as pipas.

“As soon as you hear that the presidential plane has been sold, [you can] start thinking that support to resolve the water problem will arrive soon,” López Obrador told the residents.

The plane, a luxurious Boeing 787 Dreamliner purchased in 2012 and delivered in 2014, is currently at the Southern California Logistics Airport as the government attempts to find a buyer for it.

López Obrador, who travels on commercial flights, said the aircraft cost 7 billion pesos (US $360.5 million at today’s exchange rate), which he calculated was 350 times more than Zacualtipán’s annual budget of 20 million pesos.

“. . . The presidential plane cost 350 years of Zacualtipán’s budget. Three and a half centuries!” the president remarked.

In June, he said the plane’s sale would help finance programs for migrants seeking asylum in the United States.

During the hospital visit, López Obrador also pledged that during his six-year term, the government will upgrade the highway between Zacualtipán, located about 100 kilometers north of Pachuca in the Sierra region of Hidalgo, and Huejutla, a municipality in the north of the state on the border with Veracruz.

Finance Secretary Arturo Herrera will ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to the project, he said.

Source: Notimex (sp)