After 18 days of national strike, Quito tries to recover from the damage caused by clashes between protesters and police. Parks, walls, streets, sidewalks and other elements of the city were affected by the days of mobilizations.
According to the mayor of Quito, Santiago Guarderas, material damage exceeds $2 million. However, he pointed out that they have asked all municipal institutions and companies to prepare a report with the exact number of damages, which would be ready in the following days.
According to the Metropolitan Public Company for Mobility and Public Works (Epmmop), three parks were affected by the demonstrations: El Ejido, El Arbolito and La Alameda. These places of recreation were vandalized during the national strike that lasted 18 days, according to the municipal company.
Between the three parks, more than 5,600 square meters of planters are affected, with approximately 112,000 ornamental plants that need to be replaced.
In addition, according to the municipal company, among the damage caused to road safety elements such as traffic lights, signage and bollards, road destruction due to burning tires, tree branches and other objects, and the three trees add up to $1,089,819.52 .
In the budget they have foreseen that they will allocate about $36,000 for road safety, $820,000 for metropolitan parks and approximately $300,000 for road repairs.
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The Secretary of Security and Governance, Daniela Valarezo, reported that the main damage was recorded at the entrance to the historic center and around the National Assembly.
“They tried to enter the Quito Metro stops, the garbage cans were used as barricades, they broke traffic lights, we have three video surveillance cameras that are totally damaged, five also covered them so that what they were doing could not be seen,” he said.
Valarezo said that the Metropolitan Control Agency (AMC) has lifted 16 administrative sanctions, 3,500 cubic meters of debris were collected, 218 roads opened, 72 detainees (figure to be updated), 64 damage to property and 386 demonstrations recorded by the National Police. .
On Thursday, after the signing of the agreement between the government authorities and representatives of indigenous movements, the entities of the Municipality received the order to remove the debris and clean the roads and paths affected by the mobilizations. They also started the inventory of affected places and elements in the city. They hope to finish until the weekend with the total cleaning, including hydrolavaging (cleaning with high pressure water).
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“Perhaps the most serious damage is what we have failed to perceive, the economic impact that the export, tourism, food and transportation sectors have had. We have not had the demand that the Passenger Company has, we stopped receiving $1 million”, Guarderas said, referring to the time of suspension of operations in the Ecovía, Trolebús systems and their feeders.
In addition, the mayor indicated that the expenses must be added to the value that must be paid to the officials who worked extended hours and the items for fuel consumption, the figure will be updated and in the coming days they will have the full value, he offered. .
In the legal area, it was reported that the Municipality has filed more than 30 complaints for damage caused to furniture in the capital.
In municipal transport there are more than 10,000 sanctions imposed, but in Guarderas’s opinion, it will also be the responsibility of the Prosecutor’s Office to present the actions and of the justice to process them.
“Let us remember that they are not only contraventions due to the fact of closing the roads, but that they can even reach the point of sabotage or terrorism and that corresponds to crimes that the Prosecutor’s Office must raise,” he added. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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