Water rationing could begin in two weeks; App helps you monitor electricity usage; How to get SRI refunds; Pottery festival at CIDAP; ‘Memory’ exhibit

Miércoles, 28/8/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

De El Mercurio del martes, 27/8 (3 articles):

Un encuentro escénico con García Lorca para ‘revivirlo’ (A stage encounter with García Lorca to ‘revive’ him) – The theatrical work, “Memora,” an homage to the poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, will be performed from el 27-29/8 a las 19:00 in the Sala “Alfonso Carrasco” in the Casa de la Cultura. Directed by Diego Carrasco, the work explores the women characters in Lorc’s work. The production is the result of a year and half of work and collaboration with the internationally recognized Spanish actress Pilar Tordera who now lives in Cuenca.

Standing beside the Rio Tomebamba, Rigoberto Guerrero of the Cuenca utility company ETAPA says water rationing could begin within two weeks due to the extended drought. (El Mercurio)

“Memoridad en Movimiento” llega al Museo Pumapungo (“Memory in Motion”) arrives at the Pumapungo Museum) – This traveling exhibit invites the viewers to explore and reflect on cultural identity. It opens hoy (miércoles) a las 19:00 at the Museo Pumapungo, will go to the museum in Riobamba from el 8-15/9, and then to 2 more venues.

XI Festival de Alfarería (XI Pottery Festival) – The Centro Interamericano de Artesanías y Artes Populares (CIDAP) will hold the XI Festival de Alfarería Ancestral starting el jueves a las 10:00 in the CIDAP gardens. The event is being organized by the parish GAD of San Miguel de Porotos to show samples of the work of potters in that sector.

Titular –

3 días para intenta alianzas (3 days to attempt alliances) – Political organizations have 3 days to finalize their alliances and unify candidates. If this doesn’t occur, the country will have 17 pairs of presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Cuenca –

App de la Centrosur (Centrosur App) – The Empresa Eléctrica Regional Centro Sur (EERCS) has an app to control and optimize your consumption of electricity. You can enter detailed information, verify your patterns of use, and compare monthly consumption. <At least you know you won’t have a spike in the warmer months for AC.> You can download the app for free from AppStore or Google Play. You can also find it at www.centrosur.gob.ec.

SRI enseña cómo acceder a beneficios y devoluciones (SRI teaches how to access benefits and refunds) – The Consejo Nacional para la Igualdad Intergeneracional (CNII – National Council for Intergenerational Equality) is giving workshops in Azuay about tax benefits and reimbursement of IVA to senior and disabled people. To get the automatic IVA refund in commercial locations, the recipient should have a personal confirmation code which is generated for each person in the SRI offices. People with disabilities need to have an ID from the Ministerio de Salud Pública showing a 30% or more disability. The maximum monthly refund is 2 times the Salario Básico Unificada (SBU) or $920.00. <That doesn’t make sense. Might be a misplaced decimal point.> On the SRI´s website at www.sri.gob.ec there is a section with a guide to get to this service as well as the laws, regulations and other legal provisions containing tax benefits.

De El Mercurio del martes, 27/8 (1 article):
Poco ayudan lluvias a caudales (Rains do little to help water flows) – In spite of the rain on the 25th & 26th, on lunes Cuenca had 45 days of serious drought. All 4 rivers are alarmingly low and the city got 7 mm. of rain on Sunday night. Rigoberto Guerrero of ETAPA said that it would need to rain at least 10 days with the same intensity to restore normal flow to the rivers. <So now you know how much rain to pray for.> ETAPA has a protocol that calls for temporary suspension of water service if the flow rates drop below an umbral (threshold – your word for the day) of 20%.

He said that last year there was a drought of 118 days and we are seeing the drought arrive earlier and more severely this year. ETAPA is working on reducing water loss from damage to the system or from leaks which amounts to 35%. He said that each person in Cuenca consumes about 200 liters of water daily when the World Health Organization recommends 100. <If I did the math correctly, that’s only 26.4 gallons per person per day. If you have an old toilet, that’s only 4 flushes before you reach that 26.4 gallons – no shower, cooking or cleaning.> He warned that if there are another 15 days with a complete absence of rain, ETAPA will need to start rationing water as the Nero and Baños systems are doing.

And that’s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne