The Pan-American Highway has been closed for 10 months, in total, during the last decade

Closures on the Pan-American Highway in the last 10 years, if you add them up, have lasted around 10 months. Ministry of Mines and Energy

The closure on the Pan-American Highway, at the height of the municipality of Rosas, in the department of Cauca, little by little is finding a solution. Although the communities have been replenished, mainly those of Nariño, the alternatives are still insufficient to meet the needs of the populations. The problem is that people fear that a similar emergency will occur again at any time, which is why both companies and associations ask the Government for a definitive solution. If the blockage continues, there would be a massive dismissal of employees.

Landslide on the Pan-American highway: Nariño and Cauca are in economic crisis, jobs have already begun to be lost

The governors of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, together with the unions of the departments, asked the national government to decree an economic, environmental and social emergency in the region

The actions that the Government has developed have been aimed at meeting the most basic needs of the affected communities. But the normal flow of transport, and activities in general at this time are the most affected since the economy is stopped in this region of the country.

The announcement by the regional councilor, Luis Fernando Velasco, turned out to be a relief, in which he assured that the Pan-American Highway would open again at the end of February. Although it is good news, it is already estimated that the losses due to this closure, in the two weeks now, have cost close to 1.5 trillion pesos.

“The road is quite advanced. We have the two-kilometer variant and we hope that between 20 and 30 days it will be enabled, ”he indicated when noting that in this way it will be possible to have a new highway through Rosas to go out to the Pan-American highway,” added Velasco.

Regarding the losses, Arturo Ortega, president of the Pasto Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that if this situation continues, there could be a massive layoff of employees throughout the department of Nariño.

Various foods began to raise their prices due to the collapse on the Pan-American highway

The presidential advisor for the regions estimated that by the end of February the passage through this important road corridor would be enabled again

In an interview with RCN Radio, Ortega explained that the economic emergency is preventing many companies from paying their salaries:

“We are already very close to a massive dismissal of officials because there is no cash flow in certain sectors. In addition, in the taxi sector they have to queue at gas stations for more than six or seven hours to get supplies (…) These people do not have access to work at the moment, what is expected is that there will be a massive layoff of officials”.

Montagas calls for a definitive solution for the Pan-American Highway.

The situation also affects public services. The problem is that despite the blockades, the State demands the continuity of the provision of these, but, the companies often run out of inputs, and even without personnel, which makes it impossible for the companies to continue.

Transportation freights have quadrupled their value due to a collapse on the Pan-American Highway

The blockade at the height of Rosas, in Cauca, leaves losses of more than 20 billion pesos per day due to the damming of cargo

The main distributor of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) of Nariño, Montagas, made a calculation where they found that in the last 10 years, due to closures on the Pan-American Highway, they have stopped working 279 days, just over 10 months. This means that, on average, the national highway is blocked for one month each year.

In dialogue with Caracol Radio, El – Laythy Safa Husein, manager of the company, asked for a definitive solution to this problem:

“The most difficult thing we have had, especially in the last 10 years, is that this situation repeats itself every year and a half. We did some calculations and we have had 279 days without operations in the last 10 years, that is a lot. Yes, we calculate that it is almost 10 months in 10 years without being able to operate, and that has a huge impact on the organization and stability of the company, in addition to its planning, especially when the law requires us to continue providing services. public services”.

Keep reading:

Report from the Ministry of Mines and Energy would have erroneous figures on the independence of hydrocarbonsPan-American Highway would reopen before the end of February: Luis Fernando VelascoThe four richest in Colombia accumulate the resources of 25.5 million inhabitants of the country

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