Sigchos, Cotopaxi
One of the cantons of the province of Cotopaxi most affected by the flooding and overflowing of rivers after the heavy rains on Sunday, January 30, was Sigchos.
Mayor Hugo Argüello commented that damage has been reported in areas that border La Maná, that is, the communities of Yacuchaqui and part of Quindigua, which belong to the Chugchilán parish.
The effects caused by the Quindigua River are also evident in the Arapan community of the Sigchos parish, where some homes were destroyed and they were left completely isolated and disconnected from population centers.
Argüello said that in the case of Quindigua there was the destruction of three carriage bridges and in Arapanes the loss of a bridge through which it was connected to the Pucayacu parish, La Maná. “It takes a long time for Risk Management and the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion to arrive, especially with regard to food provision,” he indicated.
He added that there was also damage to the road that connects the Quilotoa lagoon with Chugchilán, at the point called Guangocalle, where the road was destroyed. In addition, there is a series of landslides in what communicates Chugchilán with the cantonal head of Sigchos. There is no vehicular traffic in the area. This road was used alternately when the E30, La Maná-Pujilí, was damaged.
Argüello commented that this road, as well as the E30, are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (MTOP), but that no work is yet being carried out that would allow reaching the affected areas even with help.
On Saturday, Minister Marcelo Cabrera was in the El Palmar area verifying the damage and said that work is being done on the critical points.
But Mayor Argüello indicated that very little help has come from the MTOP, that on the Quilotoa-Chugchilán-Sigchos road there is not a single machinery of the ministry, that somehow with the road team of the Municipality and the Chugchilán parish it is about enabling the passage, while in the E30 they work mainly with that of the Cotopaxi provincial government.
He recognized that the governor of Cotopaxi (Oswaldo Coronel) has made helicopter overflights, but due to adverse weather conditions it has not been possible to reach isolated areas in order to adequately assess the magnitude of the damage to homes, crops and people.
The mayor of Sigchos mentioned that Quindigua, Arapanes and Yacuchaqui, which are higher up and at a greater distance from the Pucayacu parish, in La Maná, are expected to arrive with humanitarian aid this coming week. There are about 200 families in the area.
“But since there is agricultural production in these sectors, it could not be said that people are suffering from food shortages, but it is necessary to complement the basic basket with industrialized products that arrive from stores,” said Argüello.
They ask to declare the emergency
He commented that it is important that the four affected cantons of the province of Cotopaxi (Sigchos, La Maná, Pangua and Pujilí) be declared in emergency in order to try to direct economic resources on the roads that are under the responsibility of the MTOP, the E30 and the one that communicates with it from Sigchos-Quilotoa-Zumbahua.
He said that in the rest of the roads that are the responsibility of the provincial government, at least to solve with palliative measures in order to restore vehicular circulation in the communities and parishes, this body has the resources.
Argüello stated that later the national government will have to be required to allocate resources to the provincial government and the municipalities in order to enter and carry out the works for the reconstruction of bridges, as well as the roads for vehicles.
Meeting with the COE
It was reported that the Minister of Transportation and Public Works, Marcelo Cabrera, during his visit to the affected areas, participated in the permanent session of the provincial COE. There he reiterated that Cotopaxi has the full support of the Government to undertake the reconstruction of the road, that the machinery of the portfolio and the one that he ordered to be hired is cleaning the 27 landslides on the Latacunga-La Maná route and attending to all the affected areas.
In addition, the provincial COE unanimously recommended to the minister the declaration of a road emergency situation, attaching the technical reports of the tables and working groups as support.
The provincial COE will assume the coordination of the inter-institutional response actions once the declaration is issued.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, February 9, the affected areas will be visited by the Vice President of the Republic, Alfredo Borrero; Minister Cabrera; the governor of Cotopaxi; the mayor of La Maná, Hipólito Carrera, and Verónica Paredes, zone coordinator for Risk Management. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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