The security forces will take control of the energy infrastructure to avoid the “sabotage” denounced by the Government. Areas of the country suffer blackouts of up to 8 hours.
The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, decreed this Friday a state of emergency due to the emergency situation that the country’s electricity sector is going through amid prolonged power outages nationwide and accusations of “sabotage” launched by the Government, which this Sunday submits security issues and constitutional reform to popular consultation.
The measure has been taken based on Executive Decree 229 and will be in effect for 60 days. This is the estimated time to overcome the energy crisis and “face the energy deficit and guarantee the supply of electricity service in the present, aiming for stabilization in the immediate future.” During the state of emergency, the The country’s energy infrastructure will be guarded by the military and police in order to avoid sabotage, as stipulated in the aforementioned decree. Thus, “to prevent sabotage, terrorist attacks or other threats that may affect its operations,” members of the National Police and the Armed Forces will be mobilized throughout the country.
The main difference with respect to previous occasions is that the new state of exception will not entail the imposition of curfews.
The resources necessary to face the emergency will be allocated from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, without affecting the funds corresponding to the health and education sectors, the same media has clarified.
Since last Sunday Ecuador has suffered daily blackouts in different areas of up to eight hours duration, as the Mazar reservoir, the second largest in the country, has run out of sufficient water, which allows the operation of a complex of three hydroelectric plants with a power of 1,757 megawatts, equivalent to around a third of national demand.
Added to this is the cutoff of electricity supply from Colombiawhich also faces a situation of great drought that does not allow it to generate surplus electricity for export to Ecuador.
Although at first climate issues were pointed out (shortage of water in the reservoirs, excessive heat and failures in the energy plants), the authorities have later pointed to possible sabotage.
The situation is such that the president requested at the beginning of the week the resignation of the energy minister, Andrea Arrobo; declared a state of emergency in the energy system and launched an investigation to determine what happened. The first results of the investigations indicate that Arrobo and another twenty suspects would have hidden relevant information about the energy situation.
Source: Eitb
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