2024-05-07 00:11:43
The Minister of Transportation and Public Works, Roberto Luque, appeared this Tuesday, March 19, before the Plenary Session of the National Assembly of Ecuador to present the Ministry’s actions in response to the effects caused by the “El Niño” Phenomenon.
In his speech, he detailed the budget assigned for the year 2024, highlighting the allocation of USD 142 million along with reconstruction and reactivation projects for USD 106 million, totaling a budget of USD 248 million, according to the ministry’s website.
It was identified that 670 km of the State Road Network are in areas of high susceptibility to flooding and 770 km in areas of high susceptibility to land movements due to the “El Niño” phenomenon. Given this, the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works is coordinating with the provincial and municipal Decentralized Autonomous Governments to address road emergencies in the most affected provinces, such as Cañar, Manabí, Azuay, Bolívar, Imbabura, Carchi and others.
Among the main emergencies attended to is the interruption of the Alóag – Santo Domingo road due to the collapse of the bridge over the Lelia River, where a Delta-type bridge will be installed, and the collapse of a culvert on the La Concordia – Puerto Nuevo road, which It will be recovered by a 30-meter Bailey bridge. Both works are carried out in coordination with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Prefecture of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas.
Minister Luque highlighted the management for the acquisition of 21 Bailey bridges, which are already in production and will be installed soon in the province of Bolívar. In addition, work is being done on the consolidation of a World Bank loan of USD 150 million to expand the response capacity of the MTOP through the acquisition of 1,300 meters of additional Bailey bridges, as well as the maintenance and repowering of the fleet of machinery and equipment heavy.
The Ministry of Transportation and Public Works reaffirms its commitment to addressing road emergencies caused by the “El Niño” phenomenon, allocating 60% of the 2024 annual road conservation budget to the 9 provinces most affected by this climate event.