The first phase will begin this Wednesday, December 1, with the passage of trucks that mobilize exports and imports.
Tulcán-Nueva Loja
The opening of the border crossings between Ecuador and Colombia will be progressive, according to the announcement made on the night of this Monday, November 29, by the Ecuadorian president, Guillermo Lasso.
It will start at the Rumichaca international bridge from this Wednesday, December 1, with the passage of tractors that mobilize exports and imports, this system had already been applied between 08:00 and 17:00, but the presidential agreement will now allow the entry of the crew members up to 11 km from the common border.
The new provision ends with the uncomfortable exchange of drivers in the center of the binational Rumichaca viaduct, which caused complaints about several traffic accidents (crashes or rollovers) in Colombian territory, affecting the owners of national vehicles, said Patricio Rodríguez, president of the Heavy Transport Association of Carchi.
Ecuadorian drivers will enter the merchandise storage warehouses of Ipiales, 623 days after the president of Colombia, Iván Duque, unilaterally ordered the closure of borders in his country.
The professionals of the steering wheel are authorized, who will carry out the loading and unloading tasks and will not be able to enter the Ipiales or Tulcán populated centers. A mandatory requirement will be the card with the entire vaccine scheme against COVID-19.
Yaco Martínez, governor of Carchi, minutes after the government report indicated that a second phase will come into effect 30 days later (December 31, 2021), which includes a pedestrian opening in the Rumichaca and San Miguel viaducts, not specifying the protocols to comply with.
And a third phase will allow the opening of the particular transport through the pico and plate system, that is, considering even and odd numbers. Each phase will enter into an evaluation process by the authorities of the two nations, preserving the health and economy of the border populations, Martínez said.
The fears generated by the announcement made by the leaders Lasso and Duque in Quito, with yesterday’s pronouncement, lowered tensions and uncertainty, especially in the commercial and productive sectors of Tulcán, which warned of a drop in their operations due to the advantages of the exchange differential between the dollar that exceeded the barrier of 4,000 Colombian pesos (USD 1 is worth 4,035 Colombian pesos).
With the government announcement, several lawsuits that were presented to the national government collapsed, some without support, which sought to make the local market attractive. Christian Benavides, mayor of Tulcán, confirmed that he will organize a series of fairs during the month of December, shows musicals and promotional campaigns to invite people to buy in this city and not leak the dollars to Colombia.
In the first phase, the following measures will be taken, according to a resolution of the national Emergency Operations Committee (COE):
- Allow the entry and exit of an international freight vehicle, exclusively at the Rumichaca border crossing.
- The schedule to allow the entry and exit of international goods transport vehicles It is from 08:00 to 17:00 from Monday to Sunday.
- The evaluation of the impacts generated by the resolutions will be carried out 30 days after the start of their application, in order to decide the passage to the next phases provided for in the guidelines.
In the Sucumbíos area
Canoeros who work on the San Miguel River in the General Farfán parish, Lago Agrio canton, sadly received the announcement from the leaders of Ecuador and Colombia regarding the agreement to open the land border.
They are the members of the Fieras del Agua Fluvial Transport Association, which are dedicated to the transport of cargo and passengers from Ecuador to Colombia through the tributary that divides the two nations.
For them, the closure of the San Miguel international bridge brought them benefits, daily the 23 canoeists make between five and six trips carrying six passengers at a value of 3 dollars or 10,000 Colombian pesos per person.
“Although the pandemic affected many, but it has helped us to have a job, an economic income, the bridge opens and this river crossing would no longer work, where will we go?” Said Fredy Machoa, a motorcyclist from a canoe from the General Farfán border dock.
As an alternative, they proposed that heavy transport with imported and export products be allowed and the crossing of people between the two countries be postponed for a longer time.
In the same way, the merchants of the city of Nueva Loja were concerned, they fear that at Christmas time people will come en masse to make their purchases in the border towns of Colombia.
The mayor of Lago Agrio, Abraham Freire, sent a letter to the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, asking him to postpone the opening of the border between Sucumbíos and Putumayo.
“We ask that the opening of the border at the San Miguel international bridge be postponed until January 1, 2022, with the sole purpose that, during the festivities concerning the month of December, the local economy is partially reactivated,” he says. the missive. (I)
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