Diesel is in short supply in Cuenca; Comic stars are live at Mall del Rio show; Dirt bikes damage Cajas watershed; Street cleaner contract is challenged

Bored? –
(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 28/10) Cuenca acogerá la Comic Con Ecuador (Cuenca will host Comic Con Ecuador) – Comic Con Ecuador will be in Cuenca el sábado 31/10 and el domingo 1/11 starting at 11:30 each day in the Centro de Convenciones in the Mall del Río. Among the invited guests are Walter Emanuel Jones who played the Power Ranger Negro; Paul Zaloom, star of the series Beakman’s World; voice actresses Patricia Azan and Laura Torres; DJ Luca; and singer Jhair Vite. Tickets are available at Ticketshow Ecuador and are $12 plus IVA.

(De El Mercurio del viernes, 30/10) – Michael Jackson con la Sinfónica (Michael Jackson with the Symphony) – The Michael Jackson Sinfónico show will be in Cuenca for the 1st time el 30 & 31/10 a las 20:00 in the Teatro Casa de la Cultura. The show combines symphonic music, voices, choruses, dance and special effects to reinterpret the hits of the Rey del Pop. There will be over musicians performing. Tickets are available on line at Ticketmas and the sales office at Sucre 6-12 y Hermano Miguel. Cost: $30 (BOX), $23 (VIP), $18 (General).

Crafts and food fairs have opened throughout the city as Cuenca’s independence holidays get underway. (El Mercurio)

(De El Mercurio del viernes, 30/10) Vuelve la feria ganadera (The livestock fair is back) – The 73d edition of the Feria Nacional Agropecuaria (National Agricultural and Livestock Fair) will be from el 1-3/11 at the fairgrounds on km. 15 of the vía Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje in the Estación de Cumbe sector. Hours are 8-20:00. Attendees will have access to commercial spaces for producers, ranchers, entrepreneurs, and businesses as well as a variety of entertainment for the whole family. One of the new things is the first Expo Cuarto de Milla in Azuay province, endorsed by the American Quarter Horse Association. This equestrian show will highlight the versatility, strength, and skill of this breed for ranch work. There will also be gastronomy, exhibits, and a judged cow show.

(De El Mercurio del viernes, 30/10) Convocan a Segundas Lecturas (Second Readings scheduled) – The Feria Segundas Lecturas will be from el 31/10 to el 3/11 in the plaza Pablo Neruda, next to the Daniel Córdova public library as part of the Independence of Cuenca fiestas. Organized by the Mayor’s Office, there will be 24 booths open from 11:00-20:00. The programming will include reading workshops, writing, painting and encuadernación (bookbinding – your word for the day), talks, book launches, and art and music activities. The opening will be el sábado 31/10 a las 11:00 and it will close el martes 3/11 with artistic and musical performances from 17:00.

An illegal motocross track was shut down in the foothills of the Cajas Mountains. The area is part of the protected watershed for drinking water. (El Mercurio)

Curious? –
(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 28/10) Dos años para sanar huellas (Two years to heal the scars) – A private area in the Las Pampeadas sector, close to the water recharge zone near the Parque Nacional Cajas was affected by endurance motorcyclists. ETAPA said that the recuperation process could take up to 2 years due to the damage to the surface layer of the soil and part of the wetland. The first step should be quantifying the amount of the damaged surface which is the responsibility of the property owner with technical support from ETAPA. The remediation will not involve direct intervention but allow nature to gradually restore itself. ETAPA will coordinate actions with the property owner to prevent people from entering the area including environmental enclosures to protect the space. <Thick bougainvillea, mora, and holly hedges? How much leather would you need to wear to not get scratched to shreds?>

ETAPA is preparing a technical report to submit to the Comisión de Gestión Ambiente (CGA -Environmental Management Commission) of the City. It will also analyze videos to identify those responsible and take appropriate action which, if necessary, could include a complaint filed with the District Attorney’s Office. A unit in the City will determine sanctions with a fine up to 10 salarios básicos unificados (SBU) equal to $4,820. This case has worried citizens about the methods to control and protect the Macizo del Cajas which contain the Parque Nacional and the buffer zones. Inés Luzuriaga, manager of ETAPA, said the damage was on private property not part of the 28,000 hectares administered by ETAPA, and the Las Pampeadas sector is outside of park boundaries. In 2018, a management plan set the limits of the buffer zone and contemplated applying measures to that zone similar to those that apply in protected zones.

(De El Mercurio del miércoles, 28/10) “Tercerización y precarización en EMAC” (“Outsourcing and job insecurity at EMAC”) – The Empresa Pública Municipal de Aseo (EMAC EP – the garbage company) incurred a violation of the Constitution when it subcontracted cleaning services to a private entity which in turn contracted with the cleaners known as “hormiguitas chúas” (little ants). This was determined in an audit report from the Comisión del Derecho al Trabajo (Commission on the Right to Work) of the Asamblea Nacional. The report said that article 327 of the Constitution establishes that a public business cannot subcontract the activity for which it was created to perform (in this case, street cleaning) to another entity. Additionally, the Mandato Constituyente 8 (Constitutional Mandate 8) eliminated outsourcing and labor brokerage.

The audit also showed that the partners of the subcontracting companies were related to one another and failed to respect the rights of the “hormiguitas chúas.” The report urged the Municipio de Cuenca to contract directly with the “hormiguitas chúas.” It also recommended that the Attorney General’s Office initiate investigations into complaints about sexual harassment and unauthorized charges to facilitate entry into the business. <What a racket – a contractor charges people to get jobs cleaning streets, and then doesn’t even pay them.>

(De El Mercurio del viernes, 30/10) Despacho de diésel es “irregular” en Cuenca (Sale of diesel is “irregular” in Cuenca) – The fuel terminal in Challuabamba has gone 3 days without dispatching diesel normally, resulting in shortages at gas stations in Cuenca. Carlos Salazar, a representative of the fuel distributors in Azuay told El Mercurio about the supply difficulties and uncertainty ahead of the holiday. Before the suspension, dispatchers asked the distributors to pick up the diesel from La Troncal. However, transporting the fuel would add costs that would reduce sales margins to unprofitable levels, so most distributors have not opted to go pick up the fuel. Salazar thought that the added demand for diesel for electrical generation could have impacted its availability. However, he said there is not an official explanation.

Extra and Súper gas are arriving normally so he questioned if the interruption in diesel deliveries was a technical problem with the infrastructure and asked for clarification about what happened to the supply. Iván Gomezcoello, manager of Gualacense Flotabus, said that its buses went to their normal gas station la noche de miércoles <you can translate that on your own, right?>, and found it wasn’t available. It got no warning and had problems organizing their operations the next day. They are working on keeping their school bus service going to take kids to and from school. El Mercurio asked for a statement from Petroecuador but had not received an answer by the time the paper went to press.
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