Previous Story
A trip to the Yasuni
Posted On 26 Aug 2013
The conflict between environmentalists and the Ecuadorian Government was born once the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, announced that he would give green light to the operation of the block Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (ITT), located in the Yasuni National Park. This has generated the interest of the community, national and international, as well of scientific and journalistic research that highlight the environmental significance of the area and its social problems.
Investigations includes one made by newspaper El Comercio from Quito, which focuses on highlighting the beauty of the Park, the difficulty of access and the reality of human settlements in its periphery.
The chronicle says that reaching Nuevo Rocafuerte and Tiputini, which are the villages closest to the Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (ITT) oil fields, takes about 18 hours from Quito. The first eight, by land to Coca, and the other 10 hours ,by motorboat on the Napo River.
Nuevo Rocafuerte, the last Ecuadorian urban parish of the Napo River, is home to around 500 people, and the provision of basic services is poor, for example the water must be boiled or purified with chlorine for its consumption, therefore currently, the Mayor of Aguarico is implementing a new piping system to improve the provision of the vital liquid.
The Mayor of Aguarico, Franklin Cox, believes that oil exploitation is an opportunity to improve the provision of basic services and create more jobs for the population.
For his part, the head of the Yanayacu community, Francisco Jipa – located half hour of Tiputini – considered that exploitation will be helpful to get out of poverty.
But the President of the Association of farmers Borders of Ecuador, José Tamayo, is in disagreement with this view, because while he recognizes that sometimes they can not market their products in Coca for the distance and high transport costs, he thinks that exploitation will contaminate the rivers that irrigate their farms, soils, the crops and the cattle, which are their economic support.
