Mayors of the province take measures due to the lack of government resources.
The mayors of the 16 cantons of the province of Loja have joined forces to complain about the lack of allocations—of almost 4 months. They announce a possible stoppage of activities if the Government does not carry out the transfers.
Circumstances
The meeting of the mayors, in which 10 of the 16 participated, was led by the mayor of Celica, Julio Bustamante Jaramillo, who pointed out that this union is to make a direct call to the Government for the lack of allocations – which by territorial law corresponds—, there are practically 4 months: November, December, January and already walking to finish February.
“It is unfortunate to see how the officials and workers of each of the municipalities, in this case of Celica, rightly demand payments, even with tears they request resources, because they do not even have enough to buy a loaf of bread to take home,” said.
He added that, in view of this problem, with the mayors who met, they have made some resolutions:
In view of the crisis that the country’s municipalities are going through, not only due to the lack of allocations, but also due to the disinterest that the central government shows towards the municipalist family; They demand respect from the people of southern Ecuador. The situation is unsustainable because the municipalities not only work on their powers, but also on those of the State portfolios, because we are the government closest to the inhabitants; Therefore, we demand reciprocity from the Government. Demand from the Central Government the disbursement of the allocations corresponding to the months of November and December 2023 and January 2024 immediately, otherwise we will take de facto measures, such as the stoppage of our activities and a sit-in in the city of Quito. Require equity in allocations, since the State portfolios are up to date with payments, some of them are not even present in our territories, while the municipalities owe us 4 months.
For his part, the mayor of Sozoranga, Orli Renán Flores, pointed out that they are going to look for a joint solution to the lack of transfers, because “we fear that the protest or claim will be silenced with a transfer in the month of November,” he stated.
He added that, with a single payment, most of the resources will go towards paying off outstanding loans with the Development Bank of Ecuador, the Internal Revenue Service and the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute, it would only serve for the Government itself, because the entities, immediately, they debit us.
In addition, Antonio García Ontaneda, mayor of Espíndola, proposed that the debts inherited from the previous Government be programmed in installments, for example, the resources for the month of February and a quarter of the debt be allocated, and so on.
“We respond to our people by satisfying needs that the Government does not meet, in the case of Espíndola we even take care of health, because centralism does not allow for quality care,” he indicated.
Arrival of the president
The mayors, upon learning of the possible arrival of the President of the Republic to Macará, asked the governor to make arrangements to have a space and talk with the president.
Paúl Aguilar Sotomayor, governor of the province, mentioned that the Ministry of Finance has a payment schedule and from today the disbursement will begin to small municipalities, in previous days it was made to medium and large City Councils. (YO)
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