Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje hwy. reopens Monday; Bus robbers sentenced; Data collected for new Cuenca airport; Flower growers aim to double exports
Miércoles, 9/10/2024
Hola, Todos –
Titular –
El embalse de Mazar está en un nivel crítico (The Mazar reservoir is at a critical level) – See today’s article in CHL for story.
Cuenca –
The flower sector in Ecuador, the 3rd largest exporter of flowers in the world, has set a goal to double exports by 2035, reaching $2 billion in sales.
Pasos hacia nuevo aeropuerto (Steps towards new airport) – The Municipio de Cuenca installed an Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) in Tarqui to collect weather information for a new airport. In the past few years, various sites have been considered for an airport, but without detailed meteorological data. Civil aviation regulations in Ecuador and internationally call for studies to be done over an average of 5 years, but Cuenca hopes to consolidate this to 3 years. José Luis Aguilar, executive director of the Corporación Aeroportuaria de Cuenca (Corpac) announced the Dirección General de Aviación Civil (DGAC) issued a certificate to operate in accordance with the regulations of the Organización de Aviación Civil Internacional (OACI). The DGAC looked at strict compliance with national and international regulations regarding infrastructure. equipment, operating procedures, maintenance, emergency plans and more.
Mayor Zambrano said that the weather station will measure 10 variables which will be used in the studies for the airport construction to make Cuenca an international city. He said that in the last 17 months of city management, it has succeeded in increasing the number of weekly flights to Quito and Guayaquil from 12 to 14. He said the airport is finishing the reconstruction of the airplane parking platform and other work to make it international such as having migration, antinarcotics filters, and customs to make international connections easier.
The Mariscal la Mar airport started official operations on el 23/4/1941. It has a 1,900 meter long by 36 meter wide runway, and projects to increase this have been analyzed. Currently, Corpac is in talks with airline representatives to start a route between Cuenca and the Galápagos.
Próximo lunes se habilitará la vía Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje (Next Monday Cuenca-Giron-Pasaje road to be opened) – El próximo lunes, 14/10, MTOP is planning to open the vía Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje after finishing work to replace a 19-meter-deep sewer line that caused a sinkhole at km. 114 in the Vivar sector on 1 octubre. This was part of of a plan for interventions and maintenance on the main route between Azuay and El Oro. For light vehicles the alternate route is Chilcaplaya-Uzchurrumi-Quera. Agents from the Comisión de Tránsito de Ecuador (CTE) and the Policía Nacional will control passage through this route. Heavy transport should use the vía Cuenca-Zhud-Cochancay-La Troncal or Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme-Naranjal-Machala.
Una inédita cirugía a corazón abierto en el hospital deI IESS (An unprecedented open-heart surgery at IESS hospital) – A patient who had suffered a cerebrovascular infarction (some kind of stroke) was the first patient in Ecuador to receive a minimally invasive open-heart surgery. The doctors at the “José Carrasco Arteaga” IESS hospital investigated the causes and found that he suffered from a heart murmer because the aortic valve had a vegetation <yup, you read that correctly, and I ran it through Google translate. I was imagining moss growing in the valve.> which had become infected and broke, resulting in an injury.
He was given antibiotics to treat the infection and doctors decided to replace the damaged valve. Conventional surgery <The squeamish among you should skip this sentence.> involves breaking and opening the ribs to get to the heart. <Kind of like butterflying a chicken.> The procedure used was an anterior mini-thoracotomy in which a small incision was made between the ribs. The hospital has the technological equipment and specialized medical personnel for this type of surgery from which the patient recovers more rapidly. In the private sector the surgery would cost about $35,000. <And maybe 5-6 times as much as in the US?>
Actualidad –
De El Mercurio del miércoles, 9/10 (1 article):
Duplicar exportaciones de flores busca Ecuador (Ecuador seeks to double flower exports) – The flower sector in Ecuador which is the 3rd largest exporter of flowers in the world, set a goal to double exports by 2035 to reach $2 billion. Eduardo Letort, president of the board of directors of the Asociación de Exportadores de Flores de Ecuador (Expoflores) announced this goal at the opening of the Expo Flor 2024, the largest flower feria in the country and one of the largest in the world. The expo is held in Quito every two years and occupied 11,000 sq. meters in 2024. <Can you imagine how nice that convention space would smell?>
Sucesos –
Imponen entre 3 a 7 años de cárcel contra 11 asaltantes de buses (11 bus robbers sentenced to 3 to 7 years in prison) – The Tribunal Especializao en Delitos de Corrupción y Crimen Organizado found 11 alleged members of the Grupo de Delincuencia Organizada (GDO) ‘Las Aguilas’ (‘The Eagles’ (your word for the day) Organized Crime Group) guilty of attacking and robbing interprovincial buses and cargo vehicles along different roads in Guayas, mainly roads connecting the cantons of Milagro, El Triunfo, Yaguachi, Naranjal, Durán, and Guayaquil. A special unit started investigations in enero, 2023 after receiving information from the Policía Nacional. The gang stole agricultural products and food, appliances, beverages, and construction materials. <Probably whatever they could get their hands on.> They were captured in raids in octubre, 2023. Two active police were also sentenced as collaborators.
And that’s all for today so hasta ? –
Jeanne
