Court approves Noboa’s latest emergency edict; Electric generation is boosted; Noboa orders upgrades and purchases of hospital equipment

Ecuador’s Constitutional Court on Friday approved most of President Daniel Noboa latest emergency declaration for six provinces. The Court had rejected two previous declarations but said the government’s new claim of “serious internal commotion” was valid.

Noboa had declared the current state of emergency on July 2 for Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, Orellana, Santa Elena, El Oro Provinces, as well as in Camilo Ponce Enríquez canton in Azuay Province.

The Turkish power generation barge Emre Bey is expected to dock at Las Esclusas, near Guayaquil, on Monday

The court, however, rejected the government’s contention that a state of “internal armed conflict” exists, and said that restrictions on freedom of association were unconstitutional. “The claim of ‘internal armed conflict’ suggests the country is experiencing a civil war, and this is not the case,” the court said in its written opinion.

In the six provinces and Camilo Ponce Enríquez canton, the court accepted the government’s suspension of the right to home privacy and the use of the armed forces to support police operations.

Electric generation capacity boosted
Energy Minister Antonio Goncalves announced Saturday that and additional 250 megawatts of electricity will soon enter Ecuador’s electric grid. The new power will come from a Turkish thermal generation barge and from private generation facilities in Quevedo and Salitral.

The Turkish barge, Emre Bey, is expected to dock at Las Esclusas, near Guayaquil, on Monday and begin producing 110mw of electricity by August 15. Goncalves said the floating generation plant can increase production up to 200mw if necessary.

Goncalves said the new generation will help to alleviate the electric shortage that plagued the country earlier in the year. “In addition to production from the new contracts, we are increasing capacity at four other thermal plants located in the coastal region and this should be available by September,” he said.

Goncalves refused to rule out the possibility of future power shortages. “At the moment we have adequate generation capacity, but this could change as we move through the dry season,” he said. “We are watching closely the situation at the Rio Paute hydro plants, where the reservoir level is dropping. Conditions, fortunately, at the Coca Codo facility on Rio Coca have improved.”

Noboa orders upgrades and purchases of hospital equipment
President Daniel Noboa has ordered the repair and replacement of damaged and outdated medical equipment in the country’s public hospitals. He said funding of $100 million has been allocated as part of the order. In a statement last week, Noboa said that he has received “numerous complaints from patients of medical procedures being delayed or abandoned” due to the poor condition of equipment.

Health Minister Antonio Naranjo said last week that recent inspections revealed “numerous cases” of damaged and inoperable equipment in the country’s public hospitals and clinics. He said he welcomed the president’s order and the release of funds to comply with it. “We will begin remedial measures immediately,” he said.

Although the order applies only to public health facilities, Ecuador’s Social Security [IESS] health system announced it has launched a plan to lease new equipment to replace damaged and obsolete equipment. Eduardo Peña, IESS Board of Directors president, acknowledged the health service faced a “critical condition regarding medical equipment.” He said IESS has the funds to lease but not to purchase new equipment.