Cuenca suffers gasoline shortage; Illegal gun factory busted; Explore Turi and Tarqui; Airport work begins; Parque Paraíso food court reopens in April

Viernes, 22/3/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Agenda cultural –
23/3, 8:00 – Recorrido – Guided visits to Cathedrals – Catedral Vieja.
24/3, 9:00 – Feria – Ramos ecológicos (ecological branches) <I think for Palm Sunday – there are some endangered species of palms you should not harvest.> – Calle del Artista.
25/3, 20:00 -Concierto – Coro de Música Sacra – Iglesia de San Blas.
26/3, 18:30 – Procesión – Procesión de los Pasos (Stations of the Cross?), Iglesia San Blas.

A shortage of Ecopaís gasoline forced some Cuenca gas stations to close early Friday. Ecopaís amounts to almost 80% of gasoline at most stations. (El Mercurio)

De Turi a Tarqui en un ‘ruta turística’ (From Turi to Tarqui on a ‘tourist route’) – El Mercurio is sharing a route through Tarqui and Turi parishes which are the two at the southern entrance to Cuenca. From the centers of the parishes, the distance between the 2 is 15 km. You can travel the routes from Tarqui to Turi via the road parallel to the Panamericana Norte. Or you can leave from the Turi lookout point and end in central Tarqui. The paper’s recommendation is to start in Tarqui and end the route at the Turi lookout point.

Tarqui activates on weekends, mostly with its gastronomy. Before starting the route, walk around the city center and see one of the prettiest parish churches in the canton. The first stop on the route is the Yurak Allpa refuge and zoo where dozens of rescued animals recuperate under the care of the refuge’s founder, Alberto Vele. Hours for the refuge are lunes a domingo from 9-18:00. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children. After visiting the zoo, you will come to a stretch going through the nature surrounding Tarqui. In the El Verde zone, if the clouds are high enough, you can see Gaugualzhumi, a hill that was sacred to the Cañaris. This stretch from the Yurak Allpa to the entrance of Boquerón, is best travelled by foot or on bicycle. A vehicle can shorten the trip, but if you really want to enjoy nature, it’s better to go slowly and in the open air. El Boquerón is the ideal place to enjoy a different view of Cuenca. It’s 5 minutes on foot from the vía Tarqui-Turi. Hours for this viewpoint are from 9-20:00 on weekends and holidays with a $2 admission for adults and $1 for kids. If you want to camp, the cost is $10 which includes a breakfast.

If you want to buy a souvenir or just rest, the center of Turi is good for both activities. You will have Cuenca at your feet. If you have more time <and energy>, you can go to the parque Ictocruz and finish the route in nature and the silence of the rural zones of Cuenca. The whole route will take at least a half day. The best time to take the route is in the morning when there is less traffic. The weather can vary so the best thing is to wear light sports clothes with a jacket in case of rain. <Probably best if you don’t do the route in high heels either.>

Titular –

El ahorro del agua suma más aliados (Saving water adds more allies) – Technological advances have become an ally for the control, consumption, and saving of water which is getting scarcer in the world due to pollution and misuse. Today is the Día Mundial del Agua (World Water Day) and coincides with a warning from ETAPA of a possible shortage of water in Santa Ana Parish due to the low water levels.

Santiago Peña, with ETAPA’s Environmental Management Department, said that there are plans to install intelligent meters which will be placed in the Casa para Todos, La Prensa, and Villanueva neighborhoods which are served by the El Cebollar potable water treatment plant. The project is being conducted in conjunction with the U. de Azuay (UDA) and can identify where the most water is being consumed, with data in real time, and the ability to see the user. There are also plans to develop an app which customers can use to identify their consumption and upload the information. ETAPA has also created a YouTube channel called ETAPA KIDS with videos about how to treat water. Another plan is to harvest rain by saving it on roofs <better talk to a structural engineer first> and waterproofed patios including avoiding discharging water directly into rivers thereby preventing flooding. <I bet there are hackers who could easily make the meters report less consumption. Cheaper to pay a hacker than to pay the water bill if getting away with petty larceny is what floats your boat.>

Cuenca –

Santiago Malo es designado como gobernador del Azuay (Santiago Malo appointed governor of Azuay) – Luis Santiago Malo was appointed governor of Azuay on el 19/3, replacing Milton Armando Benítez. Malo was the president of the Federación de Productors de Leche del Ecuador (Fenaprole – Federation of Milk Producers of Ecuador).

Inquieta falta de la gasolina Ecopaís (Unsettling lack of Ecopaís gasoline) – A new shortage of Ecopaís is affecting Cuenca. The Empresa Pública Petroecuador issued a statement about the reasons for the shortage. There were logistical problems in getting Nafta RON 80 <Sounds like an 80 proof rum spiked with something that would cause blindness> which caused difficulties in making the gasoline. Gas stations also sent tankers to the Pascuales terminal in Guayaquil to get gas, but a representative of gasoline distributors in Azuay questioned this measure since there were also problems with shortages in Pascuales.

De El Mercurio del jueves, 21/3 (3 articles):

En El Paraíso reabrirán el patio de comidas, en abril (Food court in El Paraíso to reopen in April) – The food court at the parque El Paraíso will  reopen in abril (I guess some writers don’t capitalized the names of the months.) after being closed for 4 years. A lack of funds stymied an attempt to open them in 2022. The work on the 8 kiosks included replacement of floors, roof repairs, and maintenance of fences and metal components. Other problems solved were increasing the size of the electrical service and improving the water and sewer services. 6 of the 8 spaces have been rented. #1 is for ice cream, granizados (slushies) and yogurt; #2 is for fast food; #3 for a cafetería and punto frío (cold spot?); #5 is a restaurant: #7 is for healthy food; and #8 for fast food. Spaces #4 for typical food and #5 for snacks still need to be rented. Another improvement in the park will be the acquisition of 13 boats for the lake. <I wonder if stand #7 will do enough business? A day in the park calls for hot dogs and fries and not green bean smoothies.>

Obras en la plataforma del aeropuerto ya se ejecutan (Work on airport apron underway) – La Corporación Aeroportuaria de Cuenca (Corpac) announced it has started maintenance work including removing rubber and signage in the area where planes circulate and park. In agosto, the terminal will suspend operations to reconstruct the runway. The month was picked since it is when there is lower demand for flights. Corpac is also analyzing increasing the runway to the north. The $700,000 study will be funded by the Banco de Dessarrollo de América Latina (CAF). If the runway can be extended, it would allow larger planes to fly into Cuenca with service direct to Panamá, Miami, NY, Lima and other destinations. <Wouldn’t that be nice. But I doubt I’ll live long enough to be able to fly Cuenca-NY directly. A runway extension sounds like a 15-20 year project if everything goes perfectly.>

Hay cámaras con inteligencia artificial instaladas en el Cajas (Cameras with artificial intelligence installed in the Cajas) – The City of Cuenca has installed cameras at the control points in the Quinuas sector, at the entrance to the Parque Nacional Cajas (PNC) and in the Tamarindo zone to allow control of vehicles entering and leaving by the vía Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme. This equipment can also watch to see that no vehicles carrying dangerous substances use this route. The images will be sent to a monitoring center of the Consejo de Seguridad Ciudadana (CSC) which can see license plates in real time. ETAPA has a list of 28 items that cannot be transported through the park which is a protected area due to the risk to water sources that provide 60% of the water consumed in Cuenca.

Sucesos –

Allanan un taller donde fabrican armas de fuego (Firearms manufacturing workshop raided) – The Policía Nacional arrested a man in the Jesús de Gran Poder in the ciudadela Jaime Roldós who was apparently making and selling firearms. 100 guns, 80 cartridges of different calibers, and a large quantity of raw materials to make the guns was found. William Villarroel, commander of Zone 6 of the Policía Nacional, said that the workshop was found through a joint operation with the Bloque de Seguridad (Policía y FF.AA. – Police and Armed Forces). Part of the investigation will be to find out how long the workshop has been operating. Inside the building next to the workshop, there were finished weapons, packed in cartons. The Penal Code says that a person who makes, supplies, acquires, sells or transports firearms, parts, ammunition, explosives, or material to make guns without authorization can be sanctioned with 3-5 years in prison. <I wonder what would happen to an expat who tried to bring guns into the country either in a container or luggage. Would that be playing the “go directly to jail” card?>

De El Mercurio del jueves, 21/3 (1 article):

Policía Nacional decomisó dos toneladas de cocaína (National Police seized 2 tons of cocaine) – National Police seized 2,000 packets of cocaine from a property in the Petrillo sector of Guayas on 20/3 in an operation named “Tormes III.” The property backed up to the río Daule which was used to move the drugs and as an escape route. The packages were covered in a homemade substance with a base of mustard and menthol which was used with the goal of avoiding detection by dogs in the ports. 4 Ecuadorians were arrested.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne