There is still no date to reopen this highway, which connects Cuenca with Guayaquil, according to the vice minister of the entity. Work will cost $ 7’301,729 and was awarded to Sudinco.
CUENCA
On the morning of Thursday 16, a contract was signed between the Ministry of Public Works Transportation (MTOP) and the private company Sudinco to stabilize and mitigate kilometer 49 of the Cuenca-Molleturo-El Empalme highway, the main commercial and tourist connection road between Azuay and Guayas. At the moment, this route remains closed by order of the MTOP and its reopening is still an uncertain issue.
The MTOP directly contracted the Sudinco company to improve the conditions of this road within eight months, particularly at kilometer 49, which has been a constant space of traffic accidents and even deaths.
According to Carolina Ormaza, MTOP’s vice minister of infrastructure, the agreement for $ 7’301,729 was executed based on a state of emergency and was awarded to Sudinco, because of the two offers presented, it was the one that met all the requirements. Additionally, another million dollars will be added for the inspection process.
The beginning of the works has no date either. This will be, according to Carolina Ormaza, when the financial advance is delivered to the company. The press insisted on the issue, but she avoided it.
Residents of Molleturo take the section of the highway that connects Azuay with Guayas to demand its rapid rehabilitation and opening
If the agreement with Sudinco is made, it will be a “definitive solution,” said the authorities, so after analyzing several alternatives it was decided that the most convenient thing is to stabilize the slope.
This implies building safety berms along kilometer 49, building a crowning ditch, a dynamic barrier and a variant to preserve the conditions of the two traffic lanes.
Without giving a specific time, because that will depend on the schedule proposed by the company and approved by the ministry, Ormaza stressed that one of its objectives is to give the population of the rural Molleturo parish a safe path, but in stages: first pedestrian, then local vehicular and finally to all public. It will be with restricted hours. “Times, we will really see it, I would not want to launch times until entering with the work,” he said.
While the Government of Azuay was signing the contract, in the lowlands, in Calderón Park, a group of residents of Molleturo held a sit-in to demand comprehensive improvements to the road from the authorities.
Édison Mayaguari, spokesman for the inhabitants and merchants of kilometer 49, considered that it is “incoherent” that this contract is signed and benefits a private company when they daily, in Minga, for a month, have worked with machines and people to stabilize the slope.
According to him, it is guaranteed that the rocks will not fall and that is why next weekend he will open the vehicular passage, ensuring safety and reactivating the economy.
The vice minister of the MTOP assured that the works that the spokesperson of the inhabitants speaks of are anti-technical.
The Cuenca-Molleturo road is closed indefinitely after a new accident at Km 49
But the response of the Molleturo leader is that many times they “underestimate” them because they do not consider the technical profile of their inhabitants, including geologists, surveyors and others. That is why they will also ask the Comptroller’s Office to audit this contract granted in the state of emergency.
As for the complaint filed by the MTOP undersecretary, Luis Barzallo, against the inhabitants of Molleturo for the alleged crime of terrorism, it is still under investigation.
The Vice President of the Republic, Alfredo Borrero, was present for the signing of the agreement. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
