Sábado, 29/12/2018
Hola, Todos –
Actividades –
Pagina cultural –
Exposición – The contemporary art show “Diagnóstico Terminal” will run at the ex- Social Security Hospital on Av. Huayna Capac until 20/1/2019.
Muestra – “Albaquía” is showing at the Casa Museo Remigio Crespo.
Concierto – The “Vieja Diablos” are presenting a Cumbia psicodélica concert with “Morris” and Chilalo Selektor hoy a las 20:00. Cost: $2.00.
Comedia – Santiago Illescas, “El hombre voz” will do a stand up comedy show, “Prohibido Prohibir” el 5/1 a las 20:00 in the Teatro Casa de la Cultura.
Museo – “El Espejo Humeante” by Eduardo Villacís, will be at the Museo de los Metales until abril.
Overlook at the new De la Luz megapark.
Análisis – There will be work sessions at the CCE del Azuay starting el 7/1 to analyze the situation of the institution and to present solutions.
Del cuerpo del periodico –
Bristol Almanac – This almanac, which has been published since 1832 is available at Valverde stores (General Torres y Pres. Córdova and Feria Libre). There is a horoscope for each month, the solar eclipses, and phases of the moon which are calculated for Perú, Ecuador and Bolivia. It is popular with the public and used by people who live in the country to know when to plant.
Otras Cosas –
Titular – Notificarán a miembros de JRV designados (Designated JRV members will be notified) – Some 278,970 people, mostly university students, entered a drawing yesterday to be members of the Juntas Receptoras del Voto (JRV – Vote Receiving Boards) in the March elections. Each JRV will be composed of 7 members including principals and substitutes. Members will be notified between 2/1 and 10/3 with training from 7/1 to 24/3. Members who do not show up on election day will be fined 15% of the SBU.
New parks – 7 new and remodeled parks are projected for 2019. Cuenca currently has about 210 parks including the Tarqui-Guzho and de La Luz megaparks that were opened this year. EMAC EC (the municipal garbage company), which manages the parks has a 30-day maintenance schedule of mowing, tree trimming and planter maintenance. The small parks get cleaned 3 times per week, and the largest ones such as El Paraíso and De La Madre get cleaned daily.
EMAC has a program called “Cuenca Siembra Vida” (Cuenca plants life) which organizes cleaning mingas with the residents of the barrios and parishes. In 2018, there were 140 mingas and about 20,000 trees planted.
Freight charges – the Federación de Transporte Pesado del Ecuador (Fenatrape – Heavy Transport Federation of Ecuador) wants to increase the price of “los fletes” (freight – our word for the day) in place of taking a fuel subsidy. There is confusion since the price increase created an exception for the shrimp, tuna and fishing industries, but when the fuel increases were announced, the Minister of the Economy said there would be no increase in diesel and domestic gas. Apparently, since then, there will be a price increase for diesel from $1.48 to 2.74. <So Fenatrape wants to raise freight rates instead of taking a fuel subsidy it didn’t seem like they were going to get anyway? If you’re moving here with a container better do it quickly.>
Wheelchair ramps on buses – The first two buses with a hydraulic wheelchair ramp were presented yesterday. They are 3 door buses and the ramp will lower to ground level. <I hope that means curb level, which means that these bus drivers shouldn’t stop in the middle of the road, since the wheelchair can’t get off the curb.> Loading and unloading the wheelchair passenger will take 4-5 minutes. 20% of the buses in the fleet will have ramps which add $8,000 to the basic $120,000 cost of the bus.
Police controls for Fin de Año – There will be 47,000 police providing controls that started yesterday and will run to 2/1/2019. These include inspections of tires and other things on interprovincial buses to avoid accidents. <Like brand new tires will keep a bus with a drunk driver going way over the speed limit on a sharp curve from overturning?> There are no reports of closures on main highways with the exception of Loja-Zamora. During the Christmas controls, there were 68 traffic accidents, 15 cases of civil violence, 357 medical emergencies, and 27 acts of assistance to people with disabilities and lost children.
Planning for a National Urban Agenda – The Ministerio de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda (MIDU-VI – Ministry of Urban Development and Housing) is taking a national survey to find out what urban populations want in the future and what the coming years will look like. The Ministry has worked with GADs, women, students, the Council for the Disabled, and other social sectors to develop a national urban agenda that is not developed solely by institutions. This agenda is one of the things the country promised to do at the UN Hábitat III Summit in 2016.
Cities are changing from small and medium to large cities. Cuenca, given its current growth, will become a conurbation in not too many years, joining other municipalities such as Azogues and Déleg. Cuenca also needs to organize space in its rural areas for green space as well as agricultural space to guarantee food sovereignty and/or to provide its local products. <Cuenca – a locavore survivalist city! Some of you gringos are going to be asking for guns next to protect yourselves from Guayaquileños wanting to steal your corn.>
And that’s all for today so Hasta la próxima semana –
Jeanne
____________________
Editor’s note: Jeanne’s Periodico is a translated digest of news from the Cuenca daily newspaper El Mercurio. If details, such as event dates and times, do not appear in the translation, they did not appear in the newspaper. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.
