Water rationing scheduled for Nero; New airport would allow international flights; Six unsanitary restaurants are closed; Beware of scam artists

Lunes, 23/9/2024

Hola, Todos –
Due to the blackouts, it will be difficult to translate on my usual schedule of M-W-F so the Periodicos will hit your inbox on odd days and at odd times (for those of you on my direct mailing list). The periodicos might also be a lot shorter since I’m trying to beat the time the outages start. Also, a cat is not a good stand for the paper newspaper.

Actividades –

Titular –

Weather monitoring equipment will be used to determine the feasibility of a new airport in the Tarqui valley. (El Mercurio)

Otra semana irregular por más cortes de luz (Another irregular week for more power outages) – See today’s (lunes) CHL article for story.

Cuenca –

Nuevo aeropuerto apuntará a dos destinos: NY y Madrid (New airport will target two destinations: NY and Madrid) – Now there are 3 weather stations measuring the meteorological conditions affecting the feasibility of building a new Cuenca airport in Tarqui. The installation of the first station which arrived in the city in the middle of last junio, has been delayed due to needed maintenance. The two additional stations will measure data in Cuenca and will complement the 1st station. The 3 will take measurements at the center, north and south of the project site. Data collected will include wind gusts, heights of the clouds, the amount of rain, if there is fog and how long it stays and how long it takes to dissipate. A definite determination of whether or not the new airport can be built in Tarqui will be done within the 1st year of receiving this information.

The MITRE institute has the most information about the project since it consulted on the project and the study, but an agreement to analyze the data has not been signed, nor has it responded to the city. The city is in talks with 3 other multi-national firms if the fee for the work cannot be confirmed with MITRE. The study will define the runway length, and the hope is that it can be 4,200 meters. It should be able to serve flights to the main destinations from Cuenca – NY and Madrid, which means that planes of 140,000 pounds can use it.

Proyecto Nero publica los horarios de racionamiento (Project Nero publishes rationing schedules) – <This is your warning and heads up article for water rationing in case it doesn’t rain in time.> The Project Nero potable water provider which is the 2nd largest after ETAPA in Cuenca, announced the schedule for rationing that started today in its service area. It is providing different times of service in 3 zones with hours of 5:30 to 9, 9:30 to 12:30, and 13:00 to 16:00. <So is this what our water service is going to look like in a week or so?>

Seis locales clausurados por ARCSA debido a insalubridad (Six premises closed by ARCSA due to unhealthy conditions) – <If you have a weak stomach, you might want to skip to the next article.> 6 food service locations were closed over the weekend due to a large amount of dirt and other anomalies. <First time I heard of a roach (the insect and not the last bit of a happy smoke) being called an anomaly.> During health inspections, personnel from the Agencia Nacional de Regulación, Control y Vigilancia Sanitaria (ARCSA) found cockroaches, suciedad (dirt – your word for the day), and pet poop which they said were serious problems with hygiene. <Ya think?>

The businesses closed were 3 picanterías, a chicken place, a chifa, and a soda bar located in El Paraíso, the Centro Histórico and other points in the city. Technicians also found pests in the refrigerator, sources of contamination, and pets in the kitchen. <OK in your house but not if you’re cooking for the public.> Last week, ARCSA closed a place because it found a dead puppy in the garbage in the kitchen. It also closed some snack factories. <Doesn’t that make you think twice about eating those chips?>

Sucesos –

Cuidado con estafas de los ‘cuenteros’ (Beware of scams by ‘storytellers’) – Beware of scam artists who use verbal means to separate you from your money or assets. In the last week, there have been cases in Cuenca. You usually run into them in public spaces or public transport. They tell you tearjerking stories about family emergencies where they need help right now, or present themselves as nurses, single parents or lost tourists. They can also guilt trip you. Another method is to gain your confidence until you ingest or breath something the makes you obey the scammers. Or they convince you to buy something at a price that you should know is too good to be true. <Here’s where you English only speakers have an advantage. You’re probably scam proof if you can’t understand a word the cuentero is saying.>

La Policía Nacional incautó carga de material explosivo (National Police seized a load of explosive material) – With the help of the Armed Forces, police executed the ‘Impacto 188’ operation in Zaruma in El Oro province against illegal trafficking of explosives. In a raid they seized 84 armed blasting caps, a 20 meter roll of mecha lenga (slow fuse – your bonus word for the day), 80 detonator capsules, 129 sticks of dynamite, 47 tacos armados de nitrato (nitrate armed studs?), and 2 sacks of ammonium nitrate. <I probably don’t need to tell you I had to use Google translate for everything except the dynamite since none of those things has ever been on any shopping list I’ve ever written.>

According to police, the seized explosives are highly dangerous and can be used in mining and construction, but illegal use can be a serious risk to the community. <Aren’t you glad you don’t live next door to the the people from whom this stuff was seized?>

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne