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Due to the lack of a Binational Border Attention Center (Cebaf) on the Ecuadorian side, it will not be possible to reopen vehicular traffic over the Mataje binational bridge.
That is the appreciation of the Armed Forces, which together with the National Police maintain security in this 68.3-meter-long border viaduct that connects Nariño (Colombia) with San Lorenzo (Ecuador).
The Mataje bridge, in the province of Esmeraldas, was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but controlled passage is maintained for people moving between the two countries, said Pablo Caicedo, head of military operations 1.4.
Merchants and hoteliers participated in the symbolic opening of the Mataje binational bridge
It is estimated that a daily average of 100 people cross the bridge, according to data from the Migration Police and the Naval Force, explained Humberto Velásquez, chief of operations of the San Lorenzo 11th Marine Infantry Battalion.
Mobility is more frequent from Monday to Thursday, mainly of Colombian citizens who have medical appointments at the San Lorenzo health units and for food purchases.
Araceli Minolta, from Alto Jagua (Tumaco), is being treated at the Divina Providencia hospital in San Lorenzo del Pailón and she has to come on the assigned dates.
The inconvenience for her and a family member who accompanies her is the lack of transportation to cross the Mataje bridge, since even motorcycle traffic is prohibited. Merchandise or purchases made in Tumaco or San Lorenzo are also regularized.
Anti-narcotics and military personnel carry out the review with the support of drug and explosive detection dogs. Inspection carried out under a wooden shed with a metal roof built by the military themselves.
symbolic opening of the bridge
In mid-December 2021, merchants, businessmen and hoteliers carried out a symbolic reopening of the Mataje binational bridge.
In that meeting, they asked that the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, and the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry authorize the opening of this road corridor on the Pacific coast, just as they did with the Rumichaca bridge.
Jorge Benítez, president of the Esmeraldas Chamber of Tourism, justified the request for the trade and tourism that move through this border area. Also, a commission from Tumaco headed by María Angulo, mayor of that jurisdiction, together with the mayors of Esmeraldas, had planned a meeting to request the same from the governments of Ecuador and Colombia, last January.
The meeting did not take place due to an impediment to entry for the Colombian delegation.
Presidents of Ecuador and Colombia inaugurate the binational Río Mataje-La Espriella corridor and speak of a possible early opening of land borders
In the opinion of naval commander Pablo Caicedo, the reopening of this bridge without the respective control of vehicles and people would allow smuggling or other crimes.
While on the Colombian side, the infrastructure of the Binational Border Attention Center (Cebaf) is almost finished, for the registration of information on the flow of people, luggage, merchandise and vehicles, in a uniform and systematized way.
On August 14, 2021, Presidents Iván Duque and Guillermo Lasso officially inaugurated the La Espriella-Mataje binational corridor, which contributes to the connectivity and reactivation of both nations. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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