Congressmen ask the government to declare a state of emergency in Arequipa after landslides

Congressmen Jaime Quito (Free Peru) and Edwin Martínez (People’s Action) asked the government this Friday to declare a state of emergency throughout the Arequipa region due to mudflows that have caused loss of life, injury and property damage; as in the Mariano Nicolás Valcarcel area, where sekocha.

insufficient humanitarian aid

Jaime Quito confirmed that seven of the eight provinces in the region Arequipa They have been hit by landslides, so various mayors are asking the regional and central governments to declare a state of emergency. He specified that in the Mariano Nicolás Valcarcel area, 20,700 people were affected in San Martin, Miski, Secoche, Uraschi and others.

“The district of Mariano Nicolás Valcarcel has already been declared a state of emergency and we ask that the entire region be declared because seven out of eight provinces are affected and we have a list of all affected areas, hence the demand,” he assured.

The Congressman from “People’s Action” lamented the lack of humanitarian assistance and cited as an example that about 1,500 tents are required to accommodate the population overnight.

“We also need equipment, crews for earthworks, because the dirt lies over the houses and there are people who still need to be saved,” he said.

Need for quick action

Edwin Martinez He noted that the necessary steps had already been taken for the President of the Council of Ministers to declare the Arequipa region an emergency, taking into account the reports prepared by the COER with the declarations of an emergency for each area affected by this rain.

“There is already a positive response in the PCM, yesterday we talked with the Minister of Defense, they assessed the issue, today a declaration of a state of emergency for the entire Arequipa region was to be published in the newspaper El Peruano,” he said.

For Edwin Martinez, It is not enough to declare a state of emergency for the entire region, you need to act immediately and help the population with “quick action”.

“We have a COER that unfortunately didn’t act according to instructions for dealing with natural disasters and damage, after what has already happened, it’s impossible to come and take safety measures, this had to be foreseen in advance because the rains and waiko (…) but it is necessary to take swift action, which starts with the regional government of Arequipa with the participation of Indeci, civil defense, the Ministry of Defense and the executive branch in the face of the PCM, regarding the declaration of a state of emergency,” he said. .

In addition, the parliamentarian also said that the aid did not reach all the cities affected by the landslide.

promotion of general elections

On the other side, Jaime Quito notes the “complicity” in the Congress of the Republic and in various sectors, which makes it impossible to hold a general election in 2023.

“What happened in Congress is that they obviously say they want to stay until 2026, we put forward various proposals and approaches because I believe the reality that we are facing in the country deserves a political response because Congress is — it is a political organization. and political responses must be given as quickly as possible, and this is the promotion of elections,” he said.

Bye Edwin Martinez He questioned the parliamentary groups that sought to hold general elections from 2024 to 2023, when it was known that the necessary votes would not be received.

“If we already approved in the first legislature with 97 votes to leave in April 2024, wasn’t that the most helpful thing? The most technical one possible? Why keep changing your mind? (…) Are we going to continue to generate chaos and violence constantly every year and a half? calling for elections whenever we feel like it, whenever there is ideological noise,” he said.

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