Juan Sebastián Echeverría, acting district director of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) in Esmeraldas, presented the ministry’s 2025 accountability report on April 24 during an event at the ECU 911 facilities. Echeverría outlined key infrastructure projects completed over the period, with investments exceeding USD 18.9 million.
The presentation included updates on major roadworks such as the reconstruction of the Chontaduro – Chumundé highway in Rioverde canton, a project covering over 17 kilometers with an investment of USD 6.8 million intended to benefit more than 364,000 residents. The rehabilitation of critical points along the Esmeraldas – Quinindé route was also highlighted, with work at 37 sites involving USD 5.2 million and serving more than one million users annually.
Echeverría said that for ongoing maintenance across Esmeraldas’ state road network—spanning about 360 kilometers—the MIT contracted twelve microenterprises for conservation tasks like cleaning drainage ditches and culverts, clearing vegetation, pruning trees, installing horizontal and vertical signage, and responding to emergencies caused by winter weather. This three-month contract involved a state investment of USD 792 thousand and created direct employment for approximately 120 workers.
Support for local governments was also addressed through basic service projects such as improvements to Muisne’s potable water system—a long-awaited initiative now underway with a budget of USD 5.3 million to supply water to more than 36,000 people—and upgrades to sanitary pumping stations in Atacames and Tonsupa parishes with investments totaling USD1.3 million benefiting over 51 thousand citizens.
In housing initiatives, Echeverría said that “through a program providing fully subsidized homes on privately owned land,” construction is underway for eighteen houses across four cantons—Esmeraldas, Atacames, Rioverde and Muisne—with total spending above USD349 thousand. The “Creamos Patrimonio” program has delivered legal land regularization documents to over three hundred families in Muisne and Atacames while sixty-two social organizations have received legal or technical support.
Echeverría concluded by saying: “the commitment from President Daniel Noboa and Minister Roberto Luque remains strong toward strengthening both state-level highways as well as provincial roads,” emphasizing their focus on boosting productive development along Ecuador’s coast.
