QUITO, March 22 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — The President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, signed two decrees so as to contribute to the recovery of the victims of last Saturday’s earthquake, which left 14 deaths and 489 injured.
One of the documents formalizes the state of emergency in 14 provinces, as a way to ease and speed up public procurement for the recovery of the structures damaged both by the quake and the heavy rains.
The decree will remain in force for 60 days in the territories of Guayas, El Oro, Pichincha, Loja, Los Ríos, Bolívar, Santa Elena, Esmeraldas, Manabí, Imbabura, Chimborazo, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Napo and Azuay.
Lasso also issued a lease voucher targeted at more than a thousand victims whose homes collapsed or were rendered uninhabitable as a result of one or both disasters.
The amount of the bonus will be 1.5 unified basic salaries, that is, 675 dollars, and it will be used by these families to pay rent for three months, the Government indicated.
Last Saturday’s magnitude 6.5 tremor had its epicenter in Balao, Guayas province, on the country’s coast. A total of 235 houses were affected and 90 collapsed completely, while 148 schools and 48 health centers suffered damages.
Most of the victims (940) are residents of the province of El Oro, the one that suffered the most from the shock, which experienced 29 aftershocks, according to the Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School.
Some users on social networks state that the tragedy politically favored President Lasso, who seeks to improve his image while he is on the brink of impeachment for crimes against public administration. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
