It was confirmed in the afternoon that a ship arrived at Puerto Tumaco from Buenaventura with 1,260,000 gallons of fuel. The cargo arrived with the main objective of dealing with the shortage in the southwest of the country, region that currently suffers from a difficult situation after the recently reported emergencies.
Once unloaded, the ship immediately returns to Valle del Cauca so that, within 10 hours, it reaches its full quota, which means that Every three days there will be 1,500,000 gallons in Tumaco, for a total average of 500,000 gallons of fuel per day for the Colombian southwest.
Before the arrival of the ship, President Petro spoke about it: “The first ship with a total of 1,260,000 gallons of fuel arrived at the port of Tumaco. The ship will make a new load and every three days there will be 1,500,000 gallons in Tumaco. We will not let the southwestern part of the country run out of fuel or food,” explained the President through his Twitter account.
The goal is that, by the end of January, 8 million gallons of fuel enter the port of Tumaco, regularizing the operation and supply for the departments of Nariño and Cauca.
The daily demand for fuel in departments like Nariño is 400,000 gallons. As of the arrival of deep-draft ships, like the one we are expecting today, we are going to guarantee supplies for the department and thus reduce the serious effects of this crisis resulting from the closure of the Pan-American Highway. So then, the port of Tumaco once again becomes the ideal solution to the complex situation that the department is going through”explained Harry Kahn, president of the Tumaco Port Society.
Additionally, the Tumaco Port Society reported that there is a capacity of 140,000 tons there for all types of bulk, such as fertilizers and cement, and from the Port to other regions You will be able to send potatoes, coconut, coffee, rice and sugar, food that is dammed in the department of Nariño and that could leave in the next few days towards the interior of the country.
In addition, the Port of Tumaco is capable of storing 10,000 tons of food indoors that distributors could use to reduce the food shortage that Nariño is going through.
Petro’s conclusions after meeting with ministers in Nariño
The department of Nariño has been one of the most affected as a consequence of the intense rains that have occurred in several regions of the country, therefore, the complications in terms of mobility in that region have been a challenge for the administrations, for which the National Government held an extraordinary council of ministers in Ipiales, Nariño to resolve the situation.
After the meeting between the ministers and President Gustavo Petro began, the president referred to the conclusions reached to resolve the difficult situation not only in that department but also in other regions affected by the rains.
In the first instance, the president affirmed that in the short term he hopes that alternative roads can be opened that are under construction, likewise, they would be in a record time of 30 days so that land transport in that region is resumed.
“Several routes have been established that are already in use by gasoline supply in the department, one of them maritime, another that has to do with the crossing by territory through Ecuador, etc. ”, said the president.