With the road closed since November, the community members have not been able to produce and honor their outstanding debts.
On the morning of this Friday, authorities and inhabitants of the rural parish Molleturo arrived in Cuenca to claim what they consider a lack of attention from the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP) on the reopening of the highway that connects Azuay with Guayas and that the it has them in the middle. They announced that as long as they do not have a direct dialogue with Minister Marcelo Cabrera, they will not let any company intervene on the road.
The complainants say they are offended and forgotten by senior MTOP officials. They arrived with posters and even the truck that months ago a rock fell on it and killed its occupant. All in order to make his discomfort public.
Édison Mallaguari, spokesman for the outraged residents, made four demands on the MTOP. The first aspect was a meeting with Marcelo Cabrera to discuss issues related to the improvement of kilometer 49, since their subordinates, he said, make fun of them and even leave them standing when they are summoned for a meeting.
Second, that they remove the complaint against the inhabitants of Molleturo who were accused in the Prosecutor’s Office for the alleged crime of sabotage and terrorism. Third, that the parish be compensated for the human and economic effort they have made, through mingas, to stabilize a part of the hill.
And fourth, that they help them to manage before public and private institutions to renegotiate their debts, since being with the road closed since last November they have not been able to produce and honor their commitments.
“And as long as this meeting with the minister (Cabrera) does not take place, Molleturo is not going to let a single stone move, we declare ourselves in permanent session. We will not allow the entrance to kilometer 49 ″, Mallaguari concluded.
Supporting the people who elected him, the president of the parish government, Carlos Morales, also attended the sit-in, who assured that the MTOP lacks political will and economic decision to give them a solution.
He justified the initiative of his countrymen to open the minga due to the slowness in the initial works. More so when last week a contract was signed to stabilize and mitigate kilometer 49 of this route that does not have a defined start date and was awarded to the Sudinco construction company for $ 7’301,729, in the midst of a state of emergency.
“The town of Molleturo has the floor and that is sacred. Protected by the Constitution, we are demanding attention. We have not received support, we are going to continue in the mingas, we are not here to complain, “he said.
In the middle of the demonstration were representatives of unions such as the Azuay Chamber of Tourism through its president, Juan Pablo Vanegas. He asserted that the situation of his clients is complicated and they need connectivity, particularly to Guayaquil because they are the most common visitors.
“Unfortunately there has been a neglect of all the governments towards Cuenca, today we do not have a first-rate road as the north of the country does, that has affected tourism and production in general,” said Vanegas.
In response to the desperate request of the inhabitants of Molleturo, the MTOP issued a statement and asserted that “there is a division and vested interests among the population of the area.”
Without giving specific dates, the statement says that the “sole objective is to enable the road in the shortest time possible.”
Regarding road traffic in the area, Édison Mallaguari assured that it is open and ready for drivers to cross without fear or risk, but from the Ecuadorian Traffic Commission they remain in the position of not giving way. With what the shortest alternative for travelers is the Cuenca-Zhud-Cochancay. (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.
