TODAY NICARAGUA – The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has left all the opposition mayoralties alone in the preparation and attention to the impact of Hurricane Iota, which has hit the national territory since Monday, November 16.
Such a situation had already occurred with the passage of Hurricane Eta, at the beginning of the month.
The municipal authorities of San Sebastián de Yalí, Santa María de Pantasma, and El Cua, from the department of Jinotega; Murra and Ciudad Antigua, in Nueva Segovia; and Mulukukú in the North Caribbean, affirmed that they prepared “alone” and that they only have the “few resources” that the communes have to confront the Iota.
The opposition mayors pointed out that, as with Eta, the Municipal Committees for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters (Comupred) were not formed correctly, due to the absence of the institutions that make up the National System for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention of Disasters (Sinapred).
“We are organized as a municipality because the other institutions left us alone. Comupred did not work with Eta and it is not working now. The Mayor’s Office invited the State institutions and they did not appear ”, denounced Ninoska Cruz, deputy mayor of Murra.
Mayor Óscar Gadea, of Santa María de Pantasma, in Jinotega, pointed out that as a municipality they do not “coordinate anything” with the institutions, because they “adjudicate what one does and take it political, when this is humanitarian”.
Only municipal officials
The mayor Luis Arturo Mairena, in charge of the Ciudad Antigua commune, said that in that municipality they have an Emergency Committee made up of the same officials of the municipality.
“Comupred does not exist here because we are an opposition mayor’s office and the institutions do not agree to have that inter-institutional coordination that should be put into practice in these cases,” he said.
In El Cua, community officials have chosen to form “commissions” to attend to and prevent possible impacts from Hurricane Iota. Liberal mayor Isidro Irias affirmed that the other institutions of the State “do not agree with us. They do not want to participate in any management of the municipal government because we are of opposition tendency ”.
Noel Moreno, mayor of San Sebastián de Yalí, assured that they have formed the Comupred, “although the other institutions do not come to our call.”
The mayor pointed out that, for now, “we only work with the Red Cross and the churches.”
The opposition authorities stressed that they have only been able to alert the population of the risk they run through the Iota pass, through house-to-house visits in risky areas or by lurking in the most urban areas.
However, they warned that they will only be able to continue supporting the families by moving to shelters – mostly located in churches – since they “do not have” the economic resources to buy food or other supplies for the affected population.
Impacts from floods and landslides
The municipalities of San Sebastián de Yalí, El Cua, Santa María de Pantasma, Murra, Mulukukú and Ciudad Antigua have in common their vulnerability to possible flooding of rivers and landslides, as seen with the effects left by Hurricane Eta.
In the case of Yalí, the areas that could be most affected are those around the banks of the Coco River, according to the mayor, who explained that the most affected communities are generally: Caracol, La Morena, San Pedro, Buena Vista and Santa Isabel.
In El Cua, the greatest impact could be in the urban area, since the Cua river crosses in that area. Some of the neighborhoods that historically have the highest floods are La Pega and Ducuali.
In the case of the municipality of Murra, the most affected community, according to the deputy mayor, would be Santa Julia, where after the passage of hurricane Eta, eleven homes were destroyed.
In addition, Cruz warned that the urban area is also “in danger” due to the possible flooding of the Murra River, which would leave dozens of houses flooded.
The administrator of the Mulukukú Mayor’s Office, Yeri Mendoza, explained that the neighborhood most affected, historically, by the floods is Las Vegas, but warned that if “things turn out to be catastrophic, half of the municipality would be flooded because it is surrounded by rivers. Iyas and Tuma ”.
The commune of Santa María de Pantasma has identified as vulnerable areas the communities and neighborhoods: Parcelas, Palmeras, Las Piedras, Nuevo Amanecer, La Unión and El Aserrio, which are close to the Pantasma River. While homes in the communities of Wales, Sacramento and Los Venados are at risk of possible collapse.
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