Last night, residents of 62 communities in Santa María Colotepec reopened the Oaxaca–Puerto Escondido highway after blocking it for four consecutive days. They were demanding that the federal government complete the construction of alternative routes to the highway and provide free access for residents of these communities.
The residents were demanding the construction of alternative roads to access their communities, and the completion of livestock crossings has also not been finished. They denounced the refusal of the Federal Roads and Bridges Agency (Capufe) to accept the residents’ residency certificates, which would have allowed them to use the highway free of charge, as promised by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), Capufe, and the Ministry of the Interior (Segob) offered the communities the paving of 850 meters of road from the community of Tecomate to Piedras Negras with asphalt. The construction of three kilometers of a small, rural road between the communities of Piedras Negras and Ventanilla, with follow-up planned for the coming years until the completion of the entire 18.4-kilometer road.
Similarly, they offered to build cattle crossings between the communities of El Camalote and Los Figueroa on the Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway; maintain the highway; conduct a study and design for a 12-meter bridge over the Piedras Negras stream; and convene a dialogue in two to three weeks to address issues related to their demands.
To date, federal and state authorities have not disclosed the agreements reached with the 62 communities regarding the road’s reopening.
Source: oaxaca.eluniversal
