Transportation Ministry: Machu Picchu will reopen to tourists in 3 weeks

Minister of Transportation and Communications Enrique Cornejo said Friday he expects Machu Picchu will reopen to tourists in three weeks following torrential rains, floods and mudslides last week that swept away parts of the railway into the sacred Inca citadel.

Cornejo told Radio Programas Peru tourists will be able to bypass blockages between Cusco and Machu Picchu by traveling part of the distance by road and the rest by train. He said they will establish two temporary bridges to help bypass the 10 obstructions that are currently blocking access to the citadel.

Machu Picchu’s only access route, besides hiking, is by train. The railway to the citadel was blocked last week when heavy rainfall, floods and mudslides battered Peru’s southern Andean region. Read more…

Lawmakers present bill to promote alternative access roads to Machu Picchu

Legislators from President Alan García’s ruling Aprista party presented a bill to congress on Tuesday to promote the construction of access roads as alternatives to train to arrive at Machu Picchu, Peru’s sacred Inca citadel and top tourist attraction. The legislation, which was presented to Congress by lawmaker Luis Wilson, promotes the construction of two access roads that could transport tourists to Machu Picchu if the railway is blocked, state news agency Andina reported. Read more…

Tourism Minister: No damage to Machu Picchu, railway repairs expected to be completed in 8 weeks

Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Martín Pérez, said Tuesday that Peru’s top tourist attraction, Machu Picchu, was not damaged following torrential rains, mudslides and floods that washed out roads and railroad tracks  leading to the 15th Century sacred Inca citadel. Pérez told Radio Programas Peru he expects repairs of the railway to be finished in eight weeks.

“The citadel (of Machu Picchu), which I visited on Saturday after the tourists had been evacuated, was in perfect condition,” said Pérez. “The Inca knew not only how to build the drainage system, the hydraulic system is absolutely amazing. We went on Saturday and it was dry. Absolutely dry.” Read more…

Peru Defense Minister: Armed Forces should be responsible for responding to natural disasters

Defense Minister Rafael Rey said Monday he will propose to Peru’s presidential Cabinet that the country’s military be in charge of responding to natural disasters, following torrential rains, mudslides and floods that have devastated the country’s southern Andean region. Read more…

President García pledges support for flood-devastated Cusco; estimates Machu Picchu train repairs could take less than 2 months

President Alan García called for public calm on Friday after flying over areas devastated by torrential rains, mudslides and floods in Peru’s southern Cusco department. García said the government will guarantee the reconstruction of the regions infrastructure and relief aid for some 25,000 people left homeless by the floods, daily El Comercio reported.

“The government is going to guarantee what is necessary to re-establish highways, railways and, in second place, electrical connections, which have been damaged in various places and can be re-established,” said García. He said the reconstruction could be done in less than two months. Read more…

Scientists report colony of Galápagos sea lions in northern Peru

The Organization for Research and Conservation of Aquatic Animals, or Orca, says a colony of sea lions endemic to the Galápagos Islands have established a colony off the coast of northern Peru as a result of increased sea surface temperature in the region.

The colony includes 30 sea lions that traveled 1,500 kilometers, about 932 miles, from Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands to the Foca Island, located off the coast of Peru’s Piura department, daily El Comercio reported. The president of Orca, Carlos Yaipén, says the Foca colony is the first reported outside the Galápagos archipelago and due to an increase in sea temperature caused by climate change. Read more…

Tourism Ministry: Tourists evacuated from Machu Picchu by age, not nationality

Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Martín Pérez, said on Wednesday the elderly, children and pregnant women are the first ones being evacuated from Machu Picchu, after torrential rains and mudslides stranded tourists at Peru’s sacred Inca citadel and top tourist attraction.

Pérez denied foreign tourists were given priority over Peruvian-born visitors, state news agency Andina reported.

“Yesterday we evacuated 475 tourists from Machu Picchu to Ollantaytambo, 103 of which are Peruvian nationals,” said Pérez. “We are evacuating tourists according to their age, if they are ill, if they are pregnant and children with their mothers.”

The Sacred Valley, the headway to Machu Picchu and the region’s agricultural bread basket, has been devastated by floods that have swept away bridges and destroyed vast swaths of crops. More than 10,000 residents have been affected. Read more…

Health Ministry announces construction of hospitals, 29 months after earthquake

Twenty nine months after a magnitude-8 earthquake devastated Peru’s southern coast, the Ministry of Health announced on Monday the beginning of construction of three hospitals in the Ica department, daily El Comercio reported.

Health Minister Óscar Ugarte said the government rewarded a reconstruction contract for 157 million soles, about $55 million, for Ica’s Regional Hospital. The hospital will have 204 beds and serve 406,000 people. Read more…

Peru declares state of emergency after heavy rain in southern Andes; tourists evacuated from Machu Picchu

Peru’s Presidential Cabinet Chief Javier Velásquez announced a 60-day state of emergency in Peru’s Cusco and Apurímac departments on Monday as heavy rainfall and mudslides batter the southern Andean region. The storms have flooded the Vilcanota river, which blocked the railway between Cusco and Machu Picchu, Peru’s sacred Inca citadel and top tourist attraction. Read more…

Peru’s Fonafe to invest $33 million in water treatment plant on Yauli river

The National Fund for the Financing of State Entrepreneurial Activities, or Fonafe, announced on Friday a $33 million investment for the construction of a water treatment plant on the Yauli river in Peru’s central Junín department. The head of Fonafe, Jorge Villasante, said in a press release the funding for the project came from an environmental trust fund established with the Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd, or Chinalco. Read more…

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