The outraged residents even temporarily detained Fausto Zaldúa, the district director of the MTOP.
Cuenca
A group of inhabitants of the rural Molleturo parish, belonging to the Cuenca canton, held a sit-in at km 49 of the highway that connects Azuay and Guayas.
They asked that the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (MTOP) enable and repair the road, but that the restriction of vehicular traffic be avoided, since there are dozens of families affected by that decision.
The outraged residents even temporarily detained Fausto Zaldúa, the district director of the MTOP. In addition, they declared themselves in permanent session until the announced offers are fulfilled regarding the intervention of the road.
Kilometer 49 of the Cuenca-Molleturo route has been a scene of constant landslides and large rocks. In the last month, even, the fall of material caused the death of one person, injuries to three others and the partial destruction of two vehicles.
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On November 3, Marcelo Cabrera, MTOP minister, signed a “symbolic contract” with the Azuay Prefecture in the Government of Azuay to improve this route. The commitment was to attend to five points considered critical, with the exception of kilometer 49, precisely the most conflictive place.
That day it was also announced that the works will begin in the middle of this month, but the residents of Molleturo do not believe that and that is why they began this measure in fact.
After this impasse, a statement was sent from the MTOP in which it was mentioned that “a group of citizens prevented the start of the works and are holding the provincial director, Fausto Zaldúa,”.
In the same document, it was stated, without giving a specific date, that “a significant investment will be allocated that exceeds six million dollars for a comprehensive work, specifically at kilometer 49”.
The Cuenca-Molleturo road is the main connecting route between Azuay and Guayas. (I)
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