2024-07-21 09:31:43
The forest known as The envywhere the Government of Daniel Noboa is building a new prison, is part of the conservation and sustainable use area of st. HelenAn ordinance in force since 2022 determines what types of activities can be carried out in the area, but does not include the construction of buildings.
Just walk along the road that leads to that area, which is part of the commune. Descent of Chanduyto observe the biodiversity. In the area there are ceibos that, according to experts, are at least 200 years old. There are also guayacan trees, guasangobototillo and palo santo. The latter species is in danger of extinction.
Regarding the fauna that inhabits this forest, the most noticeable are birds. A team from Ecuavisa captured images of a hawk chick at the top of a tree, which exactly one hour later was felled by machinery.
On Wednesday, June 26, the deforestation of the area to build the Encounter Prison.
The prison is run with the permission of the Ministry of the Environment, which ensures that the land is not part of the National System of Protected Areasis not a national forest heritage and is not an intangible zone.
However, in January 2023 there was a resolution issued by the Prefecture of Saint Helena in which it was determined that the native forest of La Envidia was declared an “area of conservation and sustainable use.”
In addition, an ordinance was published in October 2022 that determines the activities that can be carried out within the provincial conservation and sustainable use areas. There are eleven items. None refers to the erection of buildings.
Just a few meters from where the work began, there is even a sign that identifies the area as a conservation area, which is why not even the community members, who live off agriculture, had planted in that space.
300 days of construction
With an investment of 52 million dollarsThe Santa Elena penitentiary center will extend over 16.2 hectares and will be built in a record time of 300 days, said the director of the National Service for Comprehensive Care for Prisoners of Liberty (SNAI), Luis Zaldumbide, on Friday, June 21 during the presentation of the work.
The country’s top penitentiary authority pointed out that the highlight of the project, with capacity for about 800 inmatesare its maximum security pavilions, “designed to ensure that judicial measures are rigorously complied with.” “This center will be essential in our fight against organized crime,” he added.
“Thanks to its cutting-edge technological deployment, which includes video surveillance systems linked to artificial intelligence software, this center will not only be the first of its kind in the country, but will also set new standards in the categorization of persons deprived of liberty according to their level of dangerousness,” said Zaldumbide.
The director of SNAI recalled that in recent years, prisons were dominated by organised crime “while previous governments looked the other way or made pacts with them.”
However, under Noboa’s government, prisons have been regained control, Zaldumbide stressed, in a week in which relatives of prisoners denounced alleged torture in prisons and demanded the reinstatement of visits suspended since January, while most prisons were also temporarily left without food suppliers.
“Today we have order with the military, with the police and also with a commander in chief who has the courage to confront them head on quickly,” said Noboa, referring to himself as the highest authority of the law enforcement forces.