Kits of food and supplies have been delivered to affected families.
The Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES) manages the delivery of a contingency bonus for natural disasters to support families affected by the sinkhole registered last Wednesday in Zaruma, El Oro province.
Regarding the support, which has not yet specified the amount, the principal of the MIES, Esteban Bernal, indicated that the necessary measures are coordinated with international organizations in order to have the resources that will be available to those affected by the sinking.
In a preventive manner, more than 300 people have been evacuated from the affected area in the central part of the canton.
The minister, who visited the canton with President Guillermo Lasso, indicated that shelters and temporary accommodations have been set up for the care of members of priority groups (older adults, pregnant women, among others).
Last Thursday, during the tour of the town, Lasso indicated that soil studies are being carried out to determine definitive solutions to the collapse in Colón Street and other areas that have been affected by illegal mining activity in the canton’s exclusion zone.
In addition, the president declared a state of exception in order to allocate the necessary resources to attend to the emergency. He promised to attend the canton on January 4 to follow up on the progress.
For its part, the MIES also collects information on the affected people in the area of the sinking and provides accompaniment to families, with psychosocial support and dissemination of coexistence rules, to those who remain in shelters, it was indicated in a statement.
According to the Risk Management Service, the sinkhole left two collapsed heritage houses and another affected.
With entities such as the United Nations Organization for Refugees (Acnur) and the Adventist Development and Assistance Resources Agency (ADRA) Ecuador is working to deliver kits for babies and women, as well as 300 food kits, donated by the private company, to the affected families.
Among the first actions, the MIES donated 16 beds and 15 mattresses for the dining room that was activated in the residential gerontological center of Zaruma, for the care of the elderly. In coordination with the local Municipality, supplies were donated.
The MIES, like other institutions that participate in the provincial Emergency Operations Committee (COE), among other government institutions, maintains its technical teams to provide immediate response and attention to all people affected by the disaster. (I)
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