They send an emergency message due to gasoline shortages in Nariño

The inhabitants of southwestern Colombia live a nightmare due to the closure of the Pan-American highway due to a gigantic landslide near the municipality of Rosas, in the department of Cauca, which it has caused shortages in 64 municipalities in the department of Nariño.

(Companies that sell the cheapest fuel in Colombia).

The landslide, which occurred on January 9 and which left no victims but more than 700 victims, wiped out a section of that highway that connects with the south of the continent and is the only one in that area in conditions to transport passengers and cargo. .

To get around the destroyed section, drivers have to take alternate routes, such as the so-called “Springboard of Death”, in the department of Putumayo, a road that, in addition to being dangerous due to the abysses and its poor condition, is not suitable for heavy vehicles, which increases the travel time by at least 10 hours.

As a result of this situation, in Cali, the capital of Valle del Cauca, the prices of food from the south of the country, such as potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, milk, cheese and lettuce, among others, have risen by more than 50%.

In Nariño the crisis is worse. Thousands of people line up at gas stations to fill up their vehicles as the tanker trucks that carry gasoline and diesel have to make a long trip through Ecuador to re-enter Colombia.

According to the National Federation of Fuel and Energy Distributors (Fendipetroleo), only in Pasto, the capital of Nariño, there are 635 gas stations at risk of total shortage. In addition, in many houses that cook with propane gas they have had to resort to electric stoves or go back to firewood.

(This is how they will get agricultural production from Nariño, after the collapse of the road).

The National Federation of Poultry Farmers (Fenavi) indicated that in Nariño there are 140 farms for raising chickens and producing eggs whose birds need 340 tons of food daily that have not been able to reach the department.

For its part, the Colombian Federation of Potato Producers (Fedepapa) calculates that in the first quarter of the year the more than 20,000 farmers in the south can produce up to 600,000 tons of that tuber that they will not be able to send to the center of the country due to the lack of roads. .

The same goes for milk. since the production of the south of the country, of more than 340,000 liters per day, runs the risk of being lost.

Life is not easy for passengers either, since the only alternate road to leave the southwest towards the center of the country and that connects the municipalities of El Bordo and La Sierra has restricted passage and will be completely closed until Tuesday while some adaptations that allow to expedite the traffic.

The president of the Association of Maritime and Fluvial Transporters of the Pacific (Atransmaflupa), Javier Torres, said that there is a fleet of 87 cabotage ships that is prepared to transport cargo, passengers and fuel in this contingency. According to Torres, these ships are already making trips across the Pacific between the ports of Tumaco (Nariño) and Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca).

(Fears are increasing among ranchers due to the closure of the Pan-American highway).

“These ships supply 16 municipalities on the Pacific coast, but now our priority is Tumaco. Each coastal vessel has a capacity of 100 to 400 tons. We have already taken 700 tons of food, passengers, and fuel to Nariño”says Torres.

The cost for each passenger is 120,000 pesos (about 25 dollars) to travel in a cabin that includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, since the sea voyage lasts 28 hours.

To address the emergency and mitigate the crisis, the Government has taken various measures, such as the maritime transport of fuel to the port of Tumaco to supply the rest of Nariño from there, while making improvements to the highway to the municipality of Chachagüí, where the main regional airport is, a road that also suffered a landslide last Saturday.

The Government of Ecuador, for its part, authorized the passage of cargo vehicles to supply Nariño and guaranteed the supply of fuel and gas to the caravan of trucks that carries fuel to the southwest of Colombia. However, the inhabitants of that region expect prompt solutions to the closure of the Pan-American highway, the only road artery that connects the south with the center of the country.

EFE