Ecuador Forgoes New Building, Gives Money to Earthquake Victims

[Judi Lynn]

Ecuador Forgoes New Building, Gives Money to Earthquake Victims
Published 17 May 2016 (2 hours 20 minutes ago)

The US$30 million going to victims of the 7.8 earthquake was originally intended to construct a new home for Ecuador's National Assembly.

The Ecuadorean National Assembly has adjusted the state's budget so that US$30 million which had been set aside to build a new building for the legislature will instead go toward helping areas damaged by the 7.8 earthquake that hit the country last month.

The devastating earthquake has left more than 28,000 people homeless and in shelters, with 661 people confirmed dead.

"We reduced officials trips outside the country in April and May, and that alone means we are saving US$40,000 dollars each month, and we have taken the decision to suspend the construction of the legislative complex that began in 2010," the president of the National Assembly of Ecuador, Gabriela Rivadeneira, said Tuesday.

Rivadeneira said that before the earthquake the parliament had already cut costs by decreasing the payment of overtime to state employees by 300 percent.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Ecuador-Helps-Earthquake-Victims-Instead-of-Building-Assembly-20160517-0051.htmlr

[LuckyLib]

1. To clarify - $US dollars are the standard currency of Ecuador,

not foreign aid dollars from the US. I originally thought it meant US aid money. Good on Ecuador! Their legislature gets things done!