City faces budget crisis, Large spiders dropping from trees, Latest Covid-19 statistics, Alianza Francesa offers music, Driving permits expire

Miércoles, 22/4/2020

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –
De la pagina cultural –

Festival “La Cumbre de las Artes” (The Summit of the Arts) – This edition, “El rencuentro. ¡De casa adentro!” (Reunion. ¡From home inside!) was scheduled for 3-30/4 from Colombia and included invited artists from Ecuador, including Cuenca. It will now be digital on Facebook and YouTube.

Opening – “Un encuentro entre muros” (A meeting between walls) which promotes “Saladentro,” a gallery and multifunctional space, will open hoy a las 20:00 in a live transmission via Zoom. You can join a discussion with writer and professor Jorge Dávila Vázquez about “Reflexiones y formas de vivir la cuarentena.” The ID to connect is 792-0554-2754. There is a cost of $5 which wil go to honor the people who clean the city. Transfer to checking account #2100190453 for Sofía Jaramillo. Call 098 956 0920 for more info. <This sure ain’t the US where you’d never publish your name and bank account number.>

It’s raining spiders in Cuenca.

Alianza Francesa music – The Alianza Francesa is putting the best of French electronic music up on their Facebook fanpage. You can go to https://open.spotify.com/playlist/305aRp1FEyKovZnL3Uidez <whew.> Their “Desde tu casa” program will have virtual karaoke with songs in Spanish and French el viernes, 24/4 a las 20:00. Register at mediateca@afcuenca.org.ec. <All you karaoki-ists need to start practice singing in French or Spanish.>

Otras cosas –

Titular – USD 8 millones menos ($8 million less) – Delays in budget allocations from the national government which could be reduced by 15%, or $8 million, plus the decrease in collections, have caused problems with the finances of the Municipio de Cuenca which is analyzing measures to guard the resources for fighting the pandemic. The city collected $19 million in taxes at the beginning of the year. This money lets the city maintain payments and services, but won’t be enough if the economy doesn’t reactivate in the next few weeks. The Comisión de Presupuesto y Finanzas del Municipio (City Budget and Finance Commission) will hold an urgent meeting and hasn’t discarded revising the annual budget. On the table are postponing all fiestas and directing the money to fighting the coronavirus; stopping publicity processes, events and consultants; and negotiating a moratorium on loans from the Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina and Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo.

Covid-19 Statistics –

278 detected cases in Azuay Province with 243 in Cuenca and 33 in 9 other cantons.
416 cases have been confirmed cases in Zone 6 (which includes Azuay) with 149 in Cañar and 30 in Morona Santiago.

Cases in the urban parishes in Cuenca:

Yanuncay has the most with 28 because of the large crowds at the plataforma Narancay. San Sebastián – 21, Bellavista – 16, Monay – 15, Machángara – 14, Huayna Cápac y El Vecino – 12, Sucre – 9, El Batán, Cañaribamba, Sagrario, y Totoracocha – 8, Hermano Miguel – 2, San Blas y Gil Ramírez Dávalos – 1. Molleturo, the largest rural parish in the canton has no cases.

Other infection news – 51 local fire fighters are in quarantine, 24 from Station 1 ‘Vicente Tamariz’ in the Terminal Terrestre sector, and 27 from Station 3 in the 3 Puentes sector.

Salvoconductos – The salvoconductos expired at midnight Wednesday for individuals and el viernes for businesses. To get one, go to www.gob.ec and www.ministeriodegobierno.gob.ec, and fill out the form which can be printed. New ones are being required because there has been misuse of these permits. To date, 2,387,754 people have obtained one which is why, in spite of the lock down, there are a lot of cars on the streets. Other rules that apply with the use of salvoconductos include the number of occupants in vehicles. Private cars can have one occupant; light cargo vehicles – a driver and a companion; mixed cargo vehicles – a driver and two companions; heavy cargo vehicles – a driver and 3 people in the cab. If you have been sanctioned for misuse of a salvoconducto, you cannot get a new one. If you are out driving without a salvoconducto, you will be sanctioned with a fine of $200, the loss of 9 points off your license, and your vehicle will be impounded for 5 days. The manager of EMOV EP said that in operations between 21/3 and 19/4, there were 2,023 sanctions for not complying with vehicular restrictions and 245 cars and motos were retained. If you falsify a salvoconducto you can go to prison. People who do not need a salvoconducto are health personnel, security, funeral homes, judicial, communications media, production chains, food distribution, financial sector, and agricultural work.

How to pay ETAPA – You can pay for water/sewer, internet, and for their other services in person at its office on Tarqui y Gran Colombia; at Jardín Azuayo, JEP, and Provida cooperativas; at Banco Pichincha; and the Farmasol pharmacies. You can also pay on line with the app, APP Mi Etapa; on their web page www.etapa.net.ec; and with electronic banking services at the banks of Guayaquil, Bolivariano, Pacífico, and at JEP. <And at a papeleria down the street from my house.>

Direct sales of Agrokawsay baskets – Agrokawsay, a business of the Province of Azuay is starting a new system of selling its agro-ecological baskets directly to the consumer. Today their trucks were in the El vergel area. They will coordinate with neighborhood leaders who will let residents know what day and time the trucks will be on the streets. Each basket contains 20 products including carrots, beans, brocolli, spinach, peppers, tomatoes, avocado, potato, green plantain, barley pieces, quinua, tree tomatoes, lemon, quesillo, brown sugar, and frescos (?). You can also buy chicken, cuy, cheese and more. Their schedule is:
Hoy – El Vergel, Gapal, Los Faroles, y Ciudadela Santa Anita.
Mañana – El Cisne, Empresa Eléctrica, y Monay Chico.
Viernes – Monay, Eucaliptos, Gran Colombia, Riveras del Tomebamba y Las Palmeras.
Sábado – Tres Puentes, La Isla, 24 de Mayo y San Isidro.

Wildlife – Large mammals who are reclaiming their territories in the Cajas are not the only forms of wildlife making comeback. A type of spider that lives along the banks of the rivers in Cuenca is also experiencing a resurgence of numbers. The araña del viento (wind spider), which have bodies the size of large peanuts (counting their legs, they have a diameter of 10 cm., or about 4 inches), are ground dwellers, but go up into the trees during their mating and hatching cycles. Because there is less use of the of the riverfront parks, more spiders are surviving to reproduce. The spiders lay their eggs in the eucalyptus and willows along the rivers and the spiderlings are hatching now. When their bodies reach the size of about 1/2 cm., they leave the trees by spinning silk and letting the wind disperse them to the ground. They leave the trees in large numbers at a time, so if you’re walking in the park, be careful of raining spiders. <If you’re one of those who are afraid of spiders you might want to stick to the side of the street with houses.*>

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne