The Municipality convened a press conference for the delivery of the technical parameters of the operation for tomorrow
Two different organizations issued warnings about possible anomalies by the Quito Metro. On the one hand, the inhabitants of the Solanda neighborhood, south of the city claiming for damage to their homes, and on the other, the citizen oversight which alleges lack of access to information and transparency.
This, at the gates of the press conference called by the mayor Santiago Guarderas -for tomorrow- in which the Spanish structuring company will deliver the technical parameters for the operation of the Metro. It is expected that, based on these guidelines, they will define and initiate the contracting processes of the international operator that will come to take over.
According to Guarderas, the most expensive project in the capital (more than $ 2,000 million) will begin commercial operations in the last quarter of this 2022.
In a past interview with EL UNIVERSO, Efraín Bastidas indicated that the company that will decide on the operation and maintenance of the project is a consortium led by the Spanish company Railways of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
Solanda’s claims
The people of Solanda rejected the statements issued by Efraín Bastidas, manager of the Quito Metro in which he assured that a report reveals that 58 houses in this neighborhood were damaged before the start of works for the construction of the Metro. Bastidas pointed out that said study is notarized.
Fernando Chamba, President of the Executive Committee of Solanda emphasized that the truth has not been told. Although they do not deny the existence of the document, the representatives of the neighborhood pointed out that there is no accountability signature on said report and that the only cracks that existed at that time were caused by the Manabí earthquake, which occurred on April 16, 2016.
“In fact there it says that one of the houses that is now destroyed does not present any damage,” he stressed.
About him study that the Municipality offered to deliver in the next six months, To determine who is responsible for the damage to Solanda’s houses, Chamba stated that they will not wait that long for a solution to be found to the owners of the destroyed properties. “We will take another level of protest, as long as we are heard,” he announced. Among the measures, they advanced that they plan take over the Metro facilities, in case of not being attended.
“We ask for the departure of the manager of the Quito Metro, because it seems to be more an official of Acciona (the construction company of the project) than manager of the Metro ”, added the representative of the neighborhood located to the south of the city.
Observations of the oversight of the Quito Metro
The oversight created by the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control to analyze the management process for the operation and maintenance of the Metro issued a report on December 29, 2021 warning that several subsystems necessary to start its operation have not yet been contracted.
“These processes take different times so that the qualifying documents can be made, upload the tender, carry out the selection process and then the award, until the contract is signed and the advance payments are delivered; we do not accept that this information is hidden and there is no clear and defined schedule and calendar of activities, “says the report.
Furthermore, they argue that The Metro is only one element of the Passenger Transport System that offered to integrate the Municipality. However, the assignment of new routes and frequencies of buses has not materialized, This is because not all companies have agreed to the rate increase, that is, they do not meet the quality standards necessary for the integration of transport subsystems.
According to the citizen oversight restructuring company of the Quito Metro presented by former manager Andrea Flores (in the administration of Jorge Yunda) would have already been evaluated by the new administration, but with different terms of reference (TOR). On the subject, they claimed to have sent Honest Quito and control bodies, “the documentation of evidence that proves the irregular form with which a process has been awarded whose TDRS were presumably expressly changed “says the text.
This newspaper requested an interview with the manager of the Quito Metro, however, until the publication of this informative note, there was no favorable response. (I)
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