TJ Airport loses 2.6 million clients. In 2020, because of the COVID-19 crisis, the Tijuana International Airport lost 2 million 609 thousand passengers, compared to the number of air travelers during 2019. According to Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP), owner of many airports in Mexico, including the one in Tijuana, this airport received 6.3 million passengers during 2020, which was almost 30% less than in 2019. GAP reports that travelers to and from this airport have been increasing gradually and that December, which was the best month in the year, had 690,900 travelers go through the airport. Airport authorities stated that sanitary measures have been reinforced all-around and are asking all travelers to follow all the established sanitary and security rules. Ensenada Mayor with great approval. Once again, Ensenada Mayor Armando Ayala had the highest support among all other Mayors in Baja. According to the news site PluralMX, Ayala gathered a 47% approval rate against a 39% disapproval rate. His most remarkable feat was increasing that approval rate a whopping 8% in just a year, as the same survey done in 2019 placed him with a 39% approval rate and a 54% disapproval rate. The worst mayor in Baja, according to PluralMX, was Zulema Adams from Tecate, with only a 9% approval rate and a roaring 72% disapproval rate. Time to pay your water bill. The water company announced that you can prepay your water service for the whole year and get a 12% discount on it plus the added benefit of not having to pay it every month. What they do is they average your consumption for the year, discount it by 12%, and charge you that amount, giving you the full amount as a credit to your water bill, where it's deducted from every month until it is all spent. If this happens before January next year, you will have to start paying again; if you still have money in there, you can rollover the credit for the following year. The toll road: A bottomless pit. This was said by Abel Madrano, head of the construction companies association for Ensenada (COMICE), who stated vehemently that the Federal Government must not leave behind the construction of the alternate road to the toll road between San Miguel and Salsipuedes, from KM 88 to 96, which has been already approved since 2015. Madrano said that the project would give economic certainty to the region as the risk of the toll road collapsing again would be a significant setback for the local economy. The repair of the toll road back in 2013 cost more than 46 million USD, and the cost of maintaining the toll road from 2015 to 2020 has been more than 180 million USD, which is the projected cost of the alternate route. Madrana states that this cost could be significantly lowered with the alternate road, as all heavy-duty vehicles would have to use it, and the ocean side of that part of the toll road would be used exclusively for passenger cars. Vaccination in Baja moving forward. A total of 3,417 vaccinations against COVID-19 had been applied in Baja California as of last week to medical personnel that deals directly with COVID. Baja has received a total of 9,750 vaccines, which were already distributed and are being applied every day. Alonso Oscar Perez Rico, head of the state health office, assured that Baja California has already seen the worst of the pandemic and that the inflection point is already starting. "During December, we saw the darkest moment of the pandemic in Baja, now it's time to start the descent, which should be continuous and progressive if we all contribute by following the sanitary rules.", stated Perez Rico. No carnival for Ensenada this year. The city has announced that the famous Ensenada carnival will not be celebrated this year due to the pandemic. Salvador Tapia, the previous organizer of the carnival, stated that celebrating the festival could very well tear down all the efforts done to control the pandemic. He also explained that most countries that celebrate a carnival have also decided to cancel it this year. Tapia said that there have been proposals for a summer party, similar to the carnival, at the middle of the year, but only if our state's health conditions would allow it. Governor cancels "voluntary" donations to Cruz Roja. Jaime Bonilla, governor of Baja California, announced that people will no longer have to contribute to the Cruz Roja or Education when renewing their cars' registration as it has been don for many years. Although the Cruz Roja donation was voluntary, it was automatically added to your bill, and you had to ask for it to be taken out if you didn't want to pay it. Cruz Roja announced that they received about 3 million USD every year from this and that not having this income will seriously hurt their operation. Conrado Hernandez Tovalin, head of the Cruz Roja for Rosarito, stated that the most affected with the elimination of the donation will be the citizens of Baja, as the state doesn't have the means to provide the ambulance service that they have provided, even though it's the state responsibility to provide it. Governor Bonilla has stated that Cruz Roja needs to find other creative ways to get the money. Still, Hernandez Tovalin disagrees as he says they are already doing all kinds of fundraisers to get the money they need, as the donation they get from the state government doesn't cover all their expenses. "The Cruz Roja handles all the reports of medical emergencies that are called in to the 911 line, and if we can't offer the ambulance service, Who will take care of these emergencies?" said Hernandez Tovalin.
