Highway problems dominate citizens’ concerns; IESS hospital to add gastroenterology center; Moreno, 36 others, arraigned in Sinohydro corruption case

Viernes, 3/3/2023

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Mes de la francofonía en la Alianza (Francophone Month at the Alianza) – The Alianza Francesa de Cuenca has prepared a series of activities for the month of marzo including concerts, an exhibit, and workshops. There was a concert today (viernes). On el 9/3, the exhibit “Kubini: cómics de África” will open. On el 23/3 a las 19:00, there will be a Facebook Live conference with screenwriter Carine Bahanag from Cameroon.

Titular –

Concerns about the conditions of highways in Azuay Province dominated discussion of the Citizens’ Assembly. (El Mercurio)

Azuay da un mes para ver obras viales (Azuay gives one month to check road work) – The Asamblea Ciudadana Gran Cruzada por la Vialidad del Azuay was convened by the Chambers of Construction, Commerce, Small Industries of Azuay, and the Colegio de Arquitectos del Azuay. 220 people representing 28 sectors of civil society met to look for proposals to improve roads in Azuay. A coordinating committee was formed to execute, operate, develop, and bring to practice actions that will comply with the mandate of the assembly. Several specific requests were made including the rehabilitation of the Panamericana Norte and av. Carlos Arízaga Toral, construction of an interchange on the the Circunvalación Sur and the vía Cuenca-Azogues, studies for a Cuenca-Guayaquil highway, and preliminary engineering studies for a new airport in the Taura zone. <So a big committee birthed a smaller committee. How efficiently do you think that’s going to go?>

Cuenca –

De El Mercurio del jueves, 2/3 (3 articles):
En diez años, inversión vial para Azuay ha ido a la baja (In ten years, road investment for Azuay has been declining) – Federal investment in roads in Azuay has varied in the past 10 years from $34.5 million in 2013 to a high of $62.3 million in 2017, a low of $11.4 million in 2021, and $20 million in 2022.

The vía Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme is one of the most important for Azuay and also the source of the most problems. The 119 km. road was reconstructed in 2012 at a cost of $68.7 million. From 2018 to 2022, another $14 million has been spent for maintenance and the construction of a bypass and slope stabilization at km. 49. Another of the fundamental arterials is the vía Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje which connects Azuay and El Oro Provinces. It also connects Cuenca with all the cantons in the río Jubones basin. Engineer Carlos Samaniego said that intervention is urgent since there are zones with geologic faults and large earth movements with a risk of losing the road. He added that one of the roads with the largest investment is Gualaceo-Plan de Milagro-Limón. The 60.7 km. road connecting Azuay with Morona Santiago has received about $116 million. Other roads receiving money have been the vía Sígsig-Chiguinda-Gualazuiza; Paute-Guarumales-Méndez; and Cuenca-La Jarata-Loja which was reconstructed in 2010, and washed out in 2022 at km. 46.

15,000 tarjetas de parqueo se sustrajeron (15,000 parking cards stolen) – A box with 15,000 parking cards were stolen from a storeroom in EMOV’s treasury department. The theft was discovered after a physical review of the boxes used to store the cards. The card numbers were identified. Further review and videos showed a couple of workers had manipulated the numbering on the boxes. Investigators toured one of the workers routes and found parked cars that were using the stolen cards as well as a vendor who had cards with numbers that matched the stolen ones. The routes for the workers were in the Alejandro Serrano Aguilar stadium and in San Sebastián. The theft was reported to the Azuay Attorney General and is being investigated by that office and internally by EMOV. <So if you see parking cards for sale on the internet, be suspicious.>

El Hospital del IESS tendrá centro de gastroenterología (IESS Hospital to have gastroenterology center) – The IESS Hospital José Carrasco Arteaga, will have a new gastroenterology center that will be built in an open space next to the oncology bunker. Construction will start in mid-marzo and will be finished in about 8 months. This is an in-demand specialty with 7,500 visits and 8,000 procedures of medium and high complexity in 2022.

Nacional –

Hoy, la audiencia de formulación de cargos a Moreno (Moreno arraignment hearing today) – The arraignment hearing started today for ex-Pres. Lenín Moreno and 36 more people who are being investigated for cohecho (bribery – your word for the day) in the Sinohydro case. Attorneys for Moreno and Wu Yu, ex-director of the contractor for the project requested a delay on the basis that they had not been able to access their defendants’ file in time affecting their rights to a defense. This was denied by the judge.

De El Mercurio del jueves, 2/3 (1 article):
Ecuador y Costa Rica concretan un acuerdo comercial (Ecuador and Costa Rica sign trade agreement) – Pres. Guillermo Lasso traveled to Costa Rica yesterday and met with Costa Rican president Rodrigo Chaves to sign a trade agreement that immediately eliminates tariffs on more than 80% of Ecuadorian exports to Costa Rica. In 2021, there was $74.6 in trade between the two countries with Costa Rica exporting $49.8 and Ecuador exporting $24.8 in products.

Descuentos y compras –

SuperMaxi – Buy $35 or more in SuperMaxi branded products and get a digital airfryer for $59.99 (normal price – 129.99) or a manual airfryer for $49.99 (normal price – 115.99) – from 2-29/3/2023.

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne