In recent days, the union claimed that they did not have money to continue working with their units at the current rate of $ 0.30.
CUENCA
After partially suspending the service for four days demanding a rate hike, Cuenca authorities are about to approve a resolution to deliver a subsidy to the urban transporters union.
This while administrative and legal sanctions have not yet been issued for the partial stoppage of the service, which affected the mobility of dozens of citizens of the Azuayan capital.
In recent days, the union claimed that they did not have money to continue working with their units. Therefore, last October 26 the Cuenca Chamber of Transport (CTC) decided to keep the city buses for four days in the mornings. The first day they stopped circulating from 06:00 to 09:00 and the next three from 06:00 to 12:00. Only line 100 was circulating.
Manolo Solís, president of the CTC, justified this action by saying that they were forced because the Municipality did not give way to a study in which it was determined that the rise of the passage it was the way to the sustainability of the service. He did not admit the stoppage, but spoke of “a rationalization of units.”
The issue was diluted with the holiday in early November, but then it was taken up again. In the following days, the Cantonal Council will debate a resolution to give them an economic subsidy for each passenger, arguing that it is necessary to generate an “economic balance” in them.
Councilor Cristian Zamora, a member of the Mobility, Transit and Transportation Commission, said that last Friday they already approved a proposal to grant this private business financial compensation for a specified time.
Currently in Cuenca the ticket costs $ 0.30 and the document outlines five scenarios considering aspects such as the decrease in passengers and the rise in the price of a gallon of diesel to $ 1.90. With these elements, the Municipality will debate whether to give them between $ 0.02 and $ 0.06 for each passenger who gets on the 475 units.
According to Zamora, the most likely to be accepted will be $ 0.05, with which the Municipality must deposit a little more than $ 250,000 in the accounts of the Chamber of Transportation on a monthly basis. Money that must then be distributed equitably among the partners, although he is not certain about that because it is a private matter.
The delivery of the subsidy must be approved by the Cantonal Council in a single debate and it is expected to be during these days and its application immediately. But, according to Zamora, it is still not clear where the Municipality will get the $ 250,000 to compensate the carriers.
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Although the impact on citizens was evident for now, there are no people or entities sanctioned in legal or administrative matters.
On the one hand, Mayor Pedro Palacios filed a complaint that is still under investigation. There, the union was pointed out for the alleged crime of paralyzing public services.
Meanwhile, the inquiries within the Municipality are progressing and for now there have been no details on specific resolutions.
Boris Palacios, general coordinator of Mobility, explained that they made progress in contrasting information from the electronic collection system with the physical impact on citizens. Then a notification was sent to the operators to present their discharge evidence as part of due process.
The official added that they do not have an execution period to sanction or acquit and they want to follow all the steps to avoid any loose ends.
Víctor Quito, president of the Cuenca Neighborhood Federation, said that this situation of partial suspension of the service was a nuisance and the damage caused to the citizens who sought to mobilize in those days of protest was evident. (I)
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