Anti-mining protesters burn truck full of gold, New coronavirus procedures at airports and bus terminals, More water news, Gasoline lines

Miércoles, 10/3/2020

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Muestra – “La otredad del espacio” (The otherness of space) was opened at the Casa de Chaguarchimbana, and is a show of works by the students from the Eugenio Espejo school.

Otras cosas –

Titular – Se desploman precios (Prices plummet) – See yesterday’s CHL article for the drop in oil prices.

Cars lined up for gasoline Tuesday night following social media reports that subsidies would be lifted. (El Comercio)

Water – Moya is another of ETAPA’s large projects to address water shortages predicted for 2030. It would consist of taking 200 l/s from the Moya River in Sígsig, and from other rivers such as the Negro and Molón. This would supply water to rural parishes such as Santa Ana, Quingeo, Cumbe y Tarqui whose water comes from community systems. The Negro and Molón Rivers have high flows – 70 & 80 cubic meters per second (m3/s) and acccording to ETAPA estimates, diverting 3 m3/s will not affect the caudal (flow – your word for the day). The project would pipe water 90 km. and up 2,000 meters. The project would also include a treatment plant that would serve Gualaceo and Paute in Azuay, and Azogues and Biblián in Cañar.

The ETAPA project director estimated that by 2060, Cuenca would have about 2 million people so that these water projects will be necessary. <Assuming, of course, that humanity hasn’t managed to wipe itself off the Earth.> A community director in Quingeo pointed out that urban Cuenca doesn’t feel short of water, but there are rural communities where people walk more than 4 km. per day to get water, mostly in times of drought. In these communities, shortage of water translates into public health problems.
An environmental engineer explained that only 22% of households in Cuenca practice water saving. It’s the 4th city in the country for water conservation with Quito at 33.8%, Ambato at 28%, Guayaquil at 23.5% and followed by Machala at 16%.

Anti-mining protesters burn truck – El sábado anterior (last Saturday), a group of people from the Río Blanco community in Molleturo parish torched a pickup after they found it carrying gold material from a mine. They emphasized that they would do the same to any vehicles carrying material that contained gold. Ayer, in Cuenca, about 100 community members protested mining and the Soldados hydroelectric project.

Travelers and coronavirus – Information tables have been set up in the Terminal Terrestre and the airport. At the airport, travelers are funneled to pass by the table, wipe their hands with antiseptic, and if they show respiratory symptoms, they are offered a mask. The airport has protocols to isolate passengers suspected of having the virus in a medical wing in the terminal. Passing by the info table at the Terminal Terrestre is optional although most travelers do. Terminal Terrestre officials have beefed up cleaning, have fumigated, improved the quality of soap in the bathrooms, and ordered thorough cleaning of the buses. <Do you really think ordering the cleaning is the same as getting clean buses?> Health officials inspected the Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital yesterday to verify it is ready for the eventual outbreak. According to the Ministerio de Salud Público, there are no positive cases nor suspected cases in Azuay at this time. <This might be different tomorrow.>

Gasoline lines – Following social media reports that the government plans — once again — to eliminate fuel subsidies, long lines of cars formed at gas stations in Cuenca, Quito, Amabato and Guayaquil for fill ups. Officials say there is plenty of gas and no need for concern.

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne
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Editor’s note: Jeanne’s Periodico is a translated digest of news from the Cuenca daily newspaper El Mercurio. If details, such as event dates and times, do not appear in the translation, they did not appear in the newspaper. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.