Ecuadoran Minister of Defense Maria Fernanda Espinosa announced that 252 of the country’s 516 military installations will be converted into other complexes by 2017. Additionally, military barracks in the southern part of Quito will be converted into the presidential palace.
“The headquarters are inside the city, and really interfere with urban activities, the dynamics of the city,” the head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces General Luis Garzon Narvaez told TeleSUR English, “So we have been planning this for many years the possibility that these installations be relocated to be once again outside the cities. And obviously this will benefit the cities that need these installations which are in some cases very large.”
At a press conference August 27, Espinosa said, “Many of these freed spaces that you have seen will become large urban parks, they will be places at the service of citizens, and the zones that are rural that are in good conditions for conservation will be administered by the Ministry of Environment and in many cases turned over to provincial governments to develop facilities for the city.”
With urban sprawl, many army headquarters once located in the outskirts of cities have since been surrounded by buildings, forcing authorities to push for change.
The project will cost US$219 million and will free up about 600 hectares of urban space by 2025. Of the US$219 million, US$56 million will go toward the building of infrastructure and bedrooms.
To read the full story: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Ecuador-to-Convert-Military-Installations-for-Public-Use-20140909-0085.html
