:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/YE7ROHXNRFA2VFIPUBSOKWU3AU.jpg "The reopening of the alternate route to the Pan American Highway will take at least another week due to the rains")
February 20 had been the date announced by the Minister of Transport, Guillaume Reyesin which the passage would finally be open Depression-La Sierra- Rosasas an alternative to Pan American Highway, blocked by the landslide presented on January 9 near Rosas (Cauca). Despite the fact that this road is for the moment authorized for heavy goods vehicles, other works which were to be delivered have been delayed due to the winter.
The Pan-American Highway will be activated on February 20: “First the food will pass from Nariño”
The director of the National Roads Institute, Juan Alfonso Latorre, confirmed that the engineering works have advanced in “record time” and will allow heavy traffic in one direction
One of these works is a 90 meter bridge which, according to the minister, will take at least another week. In any case, the level crossing has already entered service after passing the tests carried out over the weekend.
“Today the Depresión-La Sierra-Rosas highway is reserved for the exclusive use of semi-trailers that transport food, milk and public passenger service for up to 42 users from Nariño to Cauca . Along the same lines, it will operate on Wednesday,” the portfolio manager said on his Twitter account.
Rains delay reopening of another crossing through Rosas, Cauca
A landslide in the early hours of Saturday February 18 changed the plans of the national government and the reopening of the alternative route will have to wait a few more days.
However, Henry Alberto Cárdenas Cruz, president of Fedetranscarga, specifies that this opening “does not solve much of freight transport because it is not possible to transit with normal tons (52.9 tons) but with 43 tons. Our capacity is decreasing and it will cost more because the payment is made in tonnes, and the tariff will have to be adjusted”.
According to you were going to, winter made work difficult. Additionally, authorities in La Sierra have warned of ground instability and the risk of further landslides.
Members of Congress asked Gustavo Petro to declare an economic, social and environmental emergency in Nariño and Cauca
The two departments were affected a month ago by a landslide in the municipality of Rosas, which caused the closure of the Pan-American highway
In any case, the entity informed through a press release that “progress is being made in the connection of the Pan-American highway. We continue with the construction of the temporary bridge, in which the beams that allow the connection between the two sides of the Chontaduro ravine have already been installed”.
One of the sections where work is in progress is the El Bordo, La Sierra and Rosas road, where heavy vehicles cannot circulate. The other corridor being developed is the one that connects Pasto to Mocoa, and a third section is that of Piedra Sentada, El Tambo and Popayán, 99 kilometers long.
Meanwhile, the unions await the reopening of the Pan American Highwaywhich crosses the departments of Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño, up to the border with Ecuador, which is why it constitutes a fundamental element of the economy of these three departments.
It is estimated that the losses due to the clogging of this road amount to approximately two billion pesos. For example, the Colombian Association of Milk Processors (As such) reported that 12 million liters of monthly losses have already been exceeded.
“Despite the meetings with the delegates of the national and departmental Government; the Ministries of Transport and Agriculture; from the National Disaster Risk Management Unit, Invías, the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI), among other entities, the industry continues to have cost overruns due to the difficulty of transporting milk”, indicated the executive president of Asoleche, Andrea Gonzalez.
Another sector that has been affected is the passenger transport. In Pasto, losses amount to 12,000 million pesos following a reduction in the operations of the transport terminal. In Cauca, according to the director of the chamber of commerce of this department, Ana María Muñoz, the losses are 500 million pesos per day.
As the government announced the reopening of the pass Depression – La Sierra – Roses, but only for freight vehicles, intermunicipal transport traders are calling for inclusion in prioritization plans. This was stated by José Yesid Rodríguez, president of the Aditt (Association for the Integral Development of Intermunicipal Land Transport).