December 17, 2020
The Esperanza town center is located in the district of Nueva Requena, 20 minutes from the Ocho Sur farms. It did not have electricity service until 2016, when an important public investment project, which also benefited the community of Progreso, finally became a reality.
Juan Amasifuen Ynuma, former mayor of Esperanza, remembers for Historias Ocho Sur, how this milestone in the history of this thriving town of palm, cocoa and corn farmers was carried out.
First, he explains that it took the community two years to develop this project together with the Provincial Municipality of Coronel Portillo and Electro Ucayali, with a budget of about 150 thousand soles.
When the contractor who won that tender began his work, he encountered a problem that no one had identified until that moment: the Aguaytía River. The costs of transporting the cement poles from one side of the river to the other had not been considered.
The entire project faltered; and, in both the Esperanza and Progreso communities, fear grew that the long-awaited dream of bringing light to their homes, which had been postponed for so long, would not come true.
The cost to carry the poles was around 15 thousand soles per boat and approximately 5 trips were required, Juan tells us. “We asked Ocho Sur to support us with their rafts and machinery to deliver those poles, and they did not hesitate to do so, that’s how we started.”
Juan even mentions something that surprised him a lot at that time: “They stopped having their cars cross to allow us to cross our poles at any time of the day.”
The support that the company provided at that time was not limited to crossing the poles; With Ocho Sur’s heavy machinery, a road parallel to the bridge that connects Progreso and Esperanza was maintained, so that trucks could cross to the furthest point of the project.
“We asked for support for that crossing and the next day they arrived with their machines. “They put in material, put in gravel and, thus, gave way to the cranes and trucks,” the former mayor tells us while he proudly shows us the light meter installed outside his home.
“Thanks to them this work could be done, we did it hand in hand. For this reason, as a former authority, I am very grateful to Ocho Sur. Without their support the project would surely fall apart, but the company was present saying ‘here we are’ and we took the project forward,” says Amasifuen.
This story from 2016 continues to this day. The relationship between the Esperanza town center and Grupo Ocho Sur continues stronger than ever.
Thus, for example, the company continues to lend its boats so that the Cooperation Fund for Social Development (FONCODES), of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion, can carry out different projects in Esperanza and other neighboring communities.
