The government of Daniel Noboa, which announced that only half of the electricity bill will be paid in April, suspects acts of corruption that would have aggravated an already complex scenario due to the lack of rain.
The Government of Ecuador ordered this Wednesday, April 17, to suspend working days in public and private institutions for two days, in the midst of the energy crisis that has forced blackouts to ration electricity since last Sunday, and on the eve of a referendum raised by the Ecuadorian Executive on reforms in security, justice and employment.
President Daniel Noboa decreed the "suspension of the working day" on Thursday and Friday, the presidency said in a statement, and warned that the decision not only responds "to environmental circumstances," but also to "unheard-of acts of corruption and negligence." ". The president declared an emergency in the electricity sector on Tuesday and asked for the resignation of Ecuador's then Energy Minister, Andrea Arrobo.
The time not worked in the public sector will be made up by working an additional hour in the following days, authorities indicated.
Given the untimely rationing of up to six hours, Noboa commissioned the head of Transportation and Public Works, Roberto Luque, to assume Arrobo's role, and ordered an investigation into the former minister's work.
"THEY HIDDEN CRUCIAL INFORMATION"
The Ecuadorian presidency maintains that there are suspicions that "high-level officials" of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, including Arrobo, "intentionally concealed information crucial to the functioning of the national energy system."
At the same time, the authorities recognized that there is no solution in the short term, since there are reservoirs with storage levels below 5% of their capacity.
The Ecuadorian government specified that the strategic sectors of the Executive "will be operational and focused 100% on the task of resolving the energy crisis" during the mandatory holiday.
The power plants will carry out maintenance on their plants on Thursday and Friday, which will imply rationing that will be announced in a timely manner, he added.
Colombia stopped exporting energy to Ecuador as a measure to deal with the serious drought associated with the El Niño phenomenon that has that country's reservoirs below 30% of their capacity. Faced with the energy crisis, Noboa indicated on Tuesday that in April only 50% of households' electricity bills will be charged.
