City council prioritizes health, security and roads, plans new hospitals; Airport to close in late August for upgrades; Gallery supports local artisans

Lunes, 11/12/2023

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

‘Musa Takina’, una huella ecuatoriana en Cuenca (‘Musa Takina’, an Ecuadorian imprint in Cuenca) – The ‘Musa Takina’ gallery shows creations from 80 craftspeople from different provinces in Ecuador. The business was developed with a model of Fair Trade and Circular Economy which promotes the optimization of resources to maintain a balance between progress and sustainability. The craftsmen sell directly to the buyer without a middleman. The store is at Luis Cordero y Juan Jaramillo and is open lunes a viernes from 10-18:30 and sábados from 10-17:00. Currently they have Christmas products including a creamy cocktail from the Caserito Amazónico for $5/bottle in different flavours

Titular –

Cuenca’s Mariscal La Mar airport will close in late August for 65 days for terminal upgrades and runway resurfacing.

En Casa Blanca se definirá el título (The title will be defined in Casa Blanca) – <Sports – not my schtick.>

De El Mercurio del domingo, 10/12/2023 (1 article):
Por 65 días se cerrará el aeropuerto (Airport to be closed for 65 days) – The Corporación Aeroportuaria de Cuenca (CORPAC) will suspend operations at the Mariscal La Mar airport for 65 days to reconstruct the runway which is 1,900 m. long and 36 m. wide. José Luis Aguilar, executive director of CORPAC said the work will start at the end of agosto, 2024, since that is the end of the high demand season for travel. The work will finish before the Cuenca Independence holidays during which the number of passengers increases. Aguilar added that the airport is in the middle of the city, is at a high altitude and has a short runway all of which mean the runway must be in perfect condition. This is also a requirement of the airlines.

CORPAC is also analyzing increasing the runway towards the north end. So far there are no studies on this, but there is a $700,000 fund from the Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF). If the runway could be extended by at least 700 m, it would permit larger planes to fly into Cuenca with international service directly to Panamá, Miami, New York, Lima and other destinations. <I’m not counting on living long enough to see that, and if I do, I doubt I’ll be in any shape for international air travel.> An increased runway also implies a buffer zone to keep the planes from rolling off the runway and out of the airport. <Think that couldn’t happen? Just ask an old timer about that TAME flight in 2016.>

Juan Pablo Abad, an ex-pilot and aeronautical instructor, said that one option for increasing the runway is the construction of a type of bridge. He said this has been done in European airports with similar characteristics and conditions as Mariscal La Mar. He indicted that if this happens, the airport will be attractive to airlines with international routes, especially from the US. It would also boost the economic development of the Austro by facilitating the export of products and the arrival of foreign tourists.

Cuenca –

Priorizarán obras en salud, seguridad y vialidad (Priority will be given to health, safety and road works) – Last sábado, the Concejo Cantonal approved the 2024 budget of $250,482,259 which prioritizes health, safety and roads. The Municipio has planned the construction of 3 hospitals in El Valle, Baños y Ricaurte next year that will replicate the existing hospital de la Mujer y el Niño. This was one of Mayor Zamora’s campaign promises. Construction of checkpoints at the accesses and exits to the Centro de Privación de Libertad (CPL) Azuay No. 1 <the prison in Turi> is expected in 2024 for better control and safety in that sector.

In 2024, the City is expecting $109,495,584.00 in current income, $63,754,384.00 from capital, and $77,232,291.00 from financing. 2024 expenses are expected to be $35,542,522.00 in current expenses, $166,458,584.00 in investment expenses, and $13,669,751.00 in capital expenses. In Octubre of 2023, the Concejo Cantonal approved a 50% increase in the participatory budgets for the 21 rural parish governments from $6.2 to $9.3 million. The formulas used were different and encouraged environmental conservation. Therefore, the parishes with the most hectares destined for environmental protection will receive more resources.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne