Businessmen and transporters from Orizaba welcome the request made by deputies to the authorities of Federal Roads and Bridges (Capufe), as well as the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT), to speed up the work they are doing to clean up the landslide that occurred on October 26 at kilometer 230 of the Orizaba-Puebla highway, in Cumbres de Maltrata, because that highway is very necessary.
It is essential to address the landslide
Octavio Gracián Malpica, vice president of the National Chamber of the Transformation Industry (Canacintra) Orizaba delegation, said in an interview that it is a priority issue because that highway is a primary communication route between the Southeast and the capital of the Republic.
She described as positive the request made on the subject by Lorena Piñón Rivera and Rubén Moreira Valdez, federal deputies of the PRI and, by Zenyazen Escobar García, federal deputy of the Morena Party, as well as by local legislators Tania María Cruz Mejía, Dulce María Hernández Tepole and Igor Fidel Rojí López from the districts of Río Blanco, Zongolica and Orizaba, respectively, who delivered to the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, a document requesting her intervention to expedite the work of removing the landslide.
“There are more than 20 thousand vehicles that traveled through it every day,” she said and added that it is very necessary especially for the transport of cargo, which due to its size cannot circulate on the federal highway Orizaba-Tehuacán, because they get stuck on the climb, which is very steep and the curves are very sharp.
He mentioned that, although the Secretary of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport, Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina, gave a report on the actions that have been carried out to clear the 322 thousand cubic meters of material that fell on the ascent lane, due to the history of informality of Capufe, there is the possibility that the times that were marked for the works will not be met.
“We see the problem that exists, they have already been working on the Metlac bridge for more than 19 months, that is non-compliance by the agencies in charge of the communication routes.”
He acknowledged that the issue being addressed is a complicated one, since removing all the material that fell from the hill requires a lot of machinery and also labor to be able to rehabilitate the road, as well as to open a secondary road in that section.
He pointed out that the effects caused by this collapse are reflected in all sectors, including tourism in the area, which travels by private vehicle or by bus to the capital of the country and now has to consider at least two more hours of travel time than was already the case, “that is, if there is no accident on the way that could delay it even more.”
For those who have seriously complicated the situation, said the representative of small and medium-sized industrialists, it is for cargo transportation, because double-box trucks cannot circulate on the federal highway and have to travel through Xalapa, “which is a much longer route and therefore involves more time and resources invested.”
They ask that they speed up the work they are doing to clean up the landslide that occurred on October 26 at kilometer 230 of the Orizaba-Puebla highway / Photo: Courtesy X / National Guard
For his part, Luis Cruz Montesinos, a businessman in the tourism sector, saw the request made by the legislators to Capufe and the SICT as positive, since from the trenches he echoes what businessmen from all sectors have been doing to those responsible for those agencies.
“We need them to address not only the problem from Orizaba to Puebla, but also the one that has been added from the part of Perote, Xalapa and Acultzingo, since the problem we have towards Veracruz has expanded, in the communication routes,” which have been collapsed.
The more actors join in a congruent manner to be able to develop the work with a well-done study, it will be favorable and the problem could be ended more quickly, he said.
Both hoped that the authorities would take action on the matter and recognise the seriousness of the problem. “I think they know it, they are not closing their eyes, but we no longer know if they will do it within the time they have set, because sometimes we see that they set a time and it is extended. Let us hope that this time it will not be like that and they will resolve it as quickly as possible.”
Transporters ask for it first
In this regard, Lauro Rincón Hernández, leader of the Mexican-American Federation of Transport (Fematrac) stressed that the transporters were the first to ask that the rehabilitation and cleaning work of the landslide that occurred on October 26 be expedited, and that they support the request of deputies so that the State and National Government can intervene, as he expresses,
Rincón Hernández argues that the most affected continue to be the transport sector, “we were the first to demand that they speed up the work of removing and cleaning the debris that obstructs the climb of the summits km 230 of the 150-D.”
The above, he comments, supports the notion of the state deputies, as well as the local ones, who also called on the State and Federal Government to introduce more machinery and work on foot.
It is worth mentioning that the transport delegate is in a meeting with personnel from Capufe, SICT and the National Guard of Puebla, and without giving more details, since the discussion is not over, it is emphasized that the works can be completed in April 2025.
Rincón Hernández comments that this situation, since it occurred, has been affecting transportation, since delays of up to 10 hours have been recorded in the delivery of products and materials.
“Fuel consumption and weighing have increased, and now the December and New Year’s holiday weekend is coming, we are concerned about the poor condition of the roads at the national level and in the southeast, not to mention,” he said.
Unfortunately, he foresees that there may be accidents, since vacationers are unaware of the poor condition of the road network and others are unaware of the alternate routes.
Source: elsoldeorizaba
