With the promise of launching the metro in 2022, Quito celebrates 487 years of foundation

At 5:00 p.m. and with the presence of the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, this December 6 the solemn session of the Metropolitan District of Quito was held on the 487th anniversary of the founding of the city, in which decorations were also awarded. and honorable mentions, among them, to former mayor Rodrigo Paz Delgado.

In the central speech, the mayor of Quito, Santiago Guarderas, made a summary about the situation in which the municipality received, on September 30, 2021, where he said that some irregularities were detected.

Quito closes its parties with an agenda marked by pending issues and a controversial balance of the celebrations in the streets

That the city did not have an Institutional Strategic Plan. There were no studies or projects to start and carry out important works that citizens demand. Apparently, everything was directed to the private interest of the “panas” of volleyball, he stressed.

That it is inconceivable that in nine months of administration, the execution of the annual investment budget for 2021 was barely 38%.

He said that he found strategic companies of the Municipality that work so that the city does not lack garbage collection, drinking water or adequate mobility, without fuel to operate its machinery.

The only unit that complied with and even exceeded budget execution, he added, was the Communication Secretariat, which wasted more than $ 3 million, of which $ 1 million was for advertising that sought to rescue the image of the former mayor, through contracts made in the last months of his tenure.

What they did achieve with great agility was to increase the bureaucracy of the Municipality of Quito, Guarderas assured. One thousand officials were added to the council’s payroll between May 2020 and September 2021.

That it will be justice who judges, convicts or acquits, but that in his mandate he will work to serve and as his first action was to present to the Quito Council and to the citizens the government plan 2021-2023, contemplated in four axes: Quito to prosper, Quito to share, Quito to live and Quito to serve.

Recovery of the Historic Center

In 66 days of administration, reported the mayor of Quito, he promoted the recovery plan of the Historic Center of Quito, as a space for economic, cultural and tourist reactivation.

That the biggest challenge is the unregulated autonomous traders; where infiltrated groups that intend to sow anarchy have been identified; However, through a permanent dialogue, options have been offered for them to carry out their activities, with discipline, within the markets, shopping centers and municipal premises. Guarderas pointed out that Quito now has a mayor who does not play dark political games.

Announcement of works

In his speech, the mayor of the city reported that 80% of the roads of the Metropolitan District require an urgent rehabilitation intervention, and that this sector is in emergency, since 60% of the vehicle fleet and machinery destined for this purpose remains Stowed in the workshops, waiting for spare parts. That he found hiring processes lacking studies and compliance with current regulations; Unfinished works and projects with legal problems.

Despite technical and administrative problems, his administration created patching care brigades that have been repowering in 24/7 work shifts, achieving a weekly average of 4,500 road repairs, including ditches, paving stones and potholes. There are 7 kilometers of road rehabilitation in the north, center and south of the city, he said.

That in the next few days the contracting processes for the rehabilitation of 70 roads will begin, with an estimated investment of $ 10 million. Works will include serving rural parishes, forgotten and ignored for years.

Security

Regarding the security issue, Guarderas highlighted the deployment of coordinated actions with the national Government, the Armed Forces, the National Police and the Police Department. That at the moment the metropolitan plan for citizen security and peaceful coexistence is approved. That next year 200 metropolitan control agents will be incorporated, in addition 59 motorcycles and other tools will be provided.

After solving administrative problems, he pointed out that from January 2022 the number of security guards required by the main parks of the city will be reinstated. That in the next year 120 parks are expected to be illuminated.

Health

Regarding health, the mayor said that the municipality remains firm in the care of the pandemic, that municipal centers continue to collaborate to inoculate all the inhabitants of Quito with the booster dose that the Ministry of Public Health provides, for which Nine vaccination points were implemented in land terminals, and in the next few days it will be extended to shopping centers.

Guarderas called on the citizens to go to be vaccinated, that there are 120 community brigades, 250 doctors and nurses at their service, who serve urban and rural parishes from Monday to Sunday.

Celebration

In his speech, the mayor of Quito deplored the excesses and violent acts of irresponsible groups that tried to tarnish, on Friday, December 3, the festive spirit and peaceful coexistence to honor the city on Avenida de los Shyris.

He clarified that said concentration was not organized or authorized by the Municipality of Quito and went beyond the control of metropolitan agents. That the events under the responsibility of the Municipality were developed with strict biosafety measures and with the capacity authorized by the national COE.

Quito’s roads and metro

Regarding roads, Mayor Santiago Guarderas stated that he managed three solutions to enable a more efficient and safe mobility to serve the almost three million people from Quito.

That in the first months of 2022, the updating of the studies for the construction and operation of the El Labrador-Carapungo transportation solution will begin, which, with a length of 9.87 kilometers, will transport approximately 180,000 passengers per day. The first phase of this solution will begin with the construction of the La Y-Carcelén Station section.

The second is that by 2022 the city will have 10 new Trolleybus units, one hundred percent electric, which contributes to sustainable mobility, with a significant reduction in polluting emissions.

Regarding the Quito Metro, the mayor in his speech spoke that this work finally took a course from October 22, 2021, when the board of the Metropolitan Metropolitan Public Company of Quito decided to reconsider the decision adopted by the previous administration, regarding the management model; that now we are working with technical and transparent criteria, with a sustainable vision over time.

A local technical team was confirmed that works hand in hand with international experts in the formation of a Technical Structuring, led by Ferrocarriles de la Generalitat de Catalunya. That in the coming months it will have the specific technical parameters that will make it possible to have an operation model that responds to the project’s own unique operational characteristics.

This group of technical experts will be in charge of developing a training plan for the specialized personnel necessary for the operation; For this, it will have the support of the universities of Ecuador. This will prevent the Metro company from becoming political spoils.

That the work has progress in its construction of 99.3%, but that its commitment is to ensure that, as of the last quarter of 2022, the city inaugurates the first Metro of Ecuador, for which it invited the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, to join in that purpose, that the city needs the support of the Government to materialize in supporting the Quito metro, which will mean a revolution in transportation in the city. Without a doubt, he said, the history of the city will be different with the entry into operation of the Quito Metro. (I)