Ecuador $6.4 M Face lift

Ecuador $6.4 M Face lift

A company in New York, MCSquared, has received a contract from the Ecuadorian government, to help improve the image of Ecuador.

The cost of this contract is said to be $6.4 million, which will be used by this company to improve the image of Ecuador, to attract more income from tourists, and also  promote the resources that are on offer.

As we have seen in the last year, Ecuador has been increasing its prominence in the EU, signing contracts with Spain.

Ecuador, for now, is a resource- rich country. Extraction of these resources has left many scars not only on the countryside but with the international community, the long and protracted court case with the oil refining giant, Chevron.

This has left a bad taste with many corporations, and with the labour laws in  Ecuador, have combined to make this a very difficult place to set up a business.

With price controls being introduced on over 800 pharmaceuticals, and the restrictions on the imports on many luxury items, have also added to this difficulty.

This PR company will have its work cut out for it.

Ecuador's newly appointed Minister of Tourism, Sandra Naranjo,
is leading the way in the fight to gain a bigger share of the international tourist market.
Last year, just over 1.1 million international visitors made Ecuador their choice to spend vacation dollars.
With the help of this company, The Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador is hoping that this will increase to 1.6 million by the end of this year. 
 These two companies are both based in New York. Ecuador is providing a substantial amount of money to show the world that this is a great place to come and visit on one hand, and on the other  hand, selling of the resources to the rest of the world.

Outsourcing
Now there is a nasty word, but it has come to be known as the death blow for many jobs in the U.S.
This week I learned that companies in Mexico are now outsourcing work, for the very same reason that it was outsourced in the U.S.
The reason is that the company can make more money for less work and stress. Just 20 years ago Mexico was in the same position, and took on work that would feed their workers.
Recently there has been a lot of talk by the Ecuadorian government to produce more products here, and this will keep people employed and help balance the  import and export of trade.
But Ecuador has just placed an order with a company in India for the supply of 40 thousand body armor vests for the police force. Apparently, the ones they have now are not good enough.
Talk about a global economy .


Yasuni National Park


The Yasuni National Park, just two weeks after permits were issued to drill, has become the area of  an oil spill in the amount of 660,000 gallons.
This spill has contaminated drinking water and placed many dangerous effects on the indigenous people, wild life, and agriculture.

Ecuador targets 1,400

Rural communities, small towns, cities and in between have been targeted to receive information centers.

These centers will provide educators, computers, printers, projectors and study rooms that will assist these communities to take advantage of the internet and technology.

To date 489 of these centers  have been placed into service and have received over 2 million visitors and users,a good example of bringing technology to the people.

On that subject, here in Salinas, we have free WiFi for all; the service is limited, but available to all. 

Petro Ecuador 


The biggest refinery in Ecuador, located in Quito, will be closed for maintenance over the next 14 months. A spokesman said that the plant will close by sections and fully close for just 45 days.
No mention was made of whether or not the supply of petrol and diesel will be affected.

Franklin D. Roosevelt had it, so did Venezuela’s Hugo 

Chávez and so does Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega. What is it?


Rafael Correa, current President of Ecuador, could be the next leader to take advantage of never being out of a job. This question is being considered by the constitutional court in Ecuador.

Missing Oklahoma City man August Reiger sparks sightings in Ecuador

The search for August Reiger, who disappeared nearly a year ago while visiting Ecuador, continues. Two possible sightings have been reported to Ecuadorean law enforcement recently.

by Jennifer Palmer Published: May 9, 2014

The possibility that someone has recently seen a missing Oklahoma City man in Ecuador, where he vanished while vacationing with his family over a year ago, delivered a dose of hope to those trying to find him.

August  Reiger, who graduated in May 2013 as a valedictorian from Classen School of Advanced Studies, disappeared from an Ecuadorean resort town last June. 

Two possible sightings reported to Ecuadorean law enforcement renew the possibility that August Reiger is alive. Reiger, now 19, went missing June 16,  2013 while hiking in Banos — a resort town considered safe for tourists — with his parents and younger brother, setting off an international effort to find him.

The teen’s father, Chris Reiger, confirmed at least two possible sightings have been reported in the past week, but he said there’s no way to know for sure the person seen was his son.

“We certainly haven’t given up hope that he’s going to be found, no doubt about that,” Chris Reiger said Thursday. “We still think he will be.”

August Reiger graduated as a valedictorian from Classen School of Advanced Studies in May 2013 and was planning to attend the University of Oklahoma.

During the summer trip, the family went hiking and August Reiger got a few minutes ahead of the others. He did not turn up at the family’s meeting spot and didn’t return to the hotel.

The Clean Up

The clean up

It looks like the money has kicked in from the canton of Santa Elana.

Because the streets are looking much cleaner, and the sites which have been used for dumping of garbage have been cleaned up and graded over with soil.

The local people near the dump sites are now keeping an eye open and have been asked to report violators.

This area was covered in garbage up to 2 m high

A clean street

This was a dumping place for a lot of garden waste, now cleaned up

Water and the use of it

The struggle by the indigenous people in the south of Ecuador, have won a major victory this last week.

The national assembly were force into a vote, due to the actions of the indigenous people, marches and protests highlighted their sovereignty on the water that comes  their lands.

This came about because more and more water was being diverted to the oil industry, and the primary use of water in that area has in the past been for the use by the people and the production of food.

In recent months this was reversed and the people and food production has suffered, to the needs of extracting oil.

Known as the water law, the national assembly voted on the use of water from that area.

 President of the Assembly Gabriela Rivadeneira, closed the debate and a vote was taken.

The vote was 103 votes in favor, 21 against and 6 abstentions.

The law states that the use of water should

First be used for human consumption.

Second, used for irrigation, and third for food production.

This has brought a change that will improve water management, conservation and sustainability of a resource that has long been taken for granted.  

This week

A visit from the President to the gas terminal here on the coast of Santa Elana

With the project costing $571 million, it is expected that Spring Moneverde, the name given to the site will service ships able to handle up to 75,000 tonnes, and they will be come a common sight.

The terminal Chorrillo which is a storage area can store up to 33,000 metric tons of LPG in 4 tanks.

In addition to the above storage there are 16 more tanks that can hold 16 tons per tank.

This area is  not only for the  export LPG, but provides a filling station for domestic tanks        (15 kg) and commercial tanks (45 kg).

This project has from the beginning provided employment and will continue to do so, a security force and a number of skilled and semi skilled jobs which are well paid and provide a continued  income for the local community. 

Empowering Women

Empowering women, I worked there I know what a difference this can make to communities.