Puerto Ordaz and San Felix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Puerto Ordaz | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | February 9, 1952 |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | José Ramón López |
| Area | |
| - Total | 1,930 km2 (745.2 sq mi) |
| Population (2001) | |
| - Total | 600.000 |
| - Demonym | guayanes |
| Time zone | VST (UTC-4:30) |
| - Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC-4:30) |
| Area code(s) | 0286 |
Puerto Ordaz is a planned city which, together with the older settlement of San Felix, forms Ciudad Guayana in Bolívar State, eastern Venezuela. Puerto Ordaz is located at the confluence of the Caroní and Orinoco Rivers and is the site of the Llovizna Falls. There are bridges across the Caroni and a new bridge across the Orinoco (Second Orinoco crossing). It is one of Venezuela's largest cities and is the base for large iron and steelworks and aluminium industries. The city has a large hydroelectric power plant, Macagua. Due to its planned nature, the city has a drastically different feel to it than many other South American cities. The towers of the Alta Vista district recall New York, and many of the residential neighborhoods have architecture and landscaping that are similar to suburbs in the United States in the 1950s, including 'cookie cutter' homes, sidewalks, and patterned lawns.
Contents |
Economic activity
Many of Venezuela's prime industries are based in Puerto Ordaz, these include Alcasa, Venalum, Bauxilum, Carbonorca (primary aluminium manufacturers and anode suppliers for the aluminium industry), Ferrominera (iron ore processing), and Ternium Sidor (Orinoco Steelmaking). The country's main electricity producer, Edelca, and the regional development office, CVG (Corporación Venezolana de Guayana) are also located in Puerto Ordaz..
Port
The main port is operated for the Ternium Sidor industry and it's used for iron exportation. The biggest part of the river traffic over the Orinoco river has this port as destination, which is located at the mouth of the Caroní on the Orinoco. There are other 13 ports in the city. The rest of the river traffic is destined for the iron company, commercial delivery for aluminium companies and others companies located near the river.
Hydroelectric Centrals
In Puerto Ordaz is located the electricity industry of Caroní (Edelca) which manage several of the hydroelectric centrals over the Caroní river: Macagua I and II and Caruachi, all of the 3 located on the urban side of Guayana city. Edelca also built and administers Guri (this one is for now, the second world biggest dam, in terms of the capacity of hydroelectric generation) and gave origin to the Guri reservoir, the second biggest lake in Venezuela. Puerto Ordaz is also the only city in the world with a hydroelectric dam in the middle of the city. Both the city, Puerto Ordaz, and Venezuela use some of the hydroelectric power from Guri Dam.
Law and government
Puerto Ordaz is conformated by Caroní Municipality, Venezuelan law specifies that municipal governments have four main functions: executive, legislative, comptroller, and planning. The executive function is managed by the mayor, who is in charge of representing the municipality's administration. The legislative branch is represented by the Municipal Council, composed of seven councillors, charged with the deliberation of new decrees and local laws. The comptroller tasks are managed by the municipal comptroller's office, which oversees accountancy. Finally, planning is represented by the Local Public Planning Council, which manages development projects for the municipality.
Transportation
Puerto Ordaz is crisscrossed from north to south and east to west by numerous avenues. Some of them are:
- Guayana Avenue: It's the main traffic avenue of the city, since it crisscrosses the city from its start to its end, it starts at the toll on the "Ciudad Bolivar-Ciudad Guayana" Highway, and goes all the way through Puerto Ordaz (industrial zone, airport, commercial zone, residential zone, even the touristic zone since it side passes the Cachamay Park).
- Atlantico Avenue: Goes through Puerto Ordaz from west to east on the south side of the city. It intersects with the Las Americas avenue and the Leopoldo Sucre Figarella avenue. This gives a high importance to this avenue.
- Las Americas Avenue: Connects the Altavista sector (north of the city) with the centre.
- Paseo Caroní Avenue: Stars on the west side of the city and ends at the Atlantic avenue, it's also an important avenue.
On December 3, 2006, was inaugurated the Orinokia bridge, which crosses the Orinoco river.
Recreation
In Puerto Ordaz the principal recreation centers are:
- Natural: Llovizna park, Cachamay park, Loefling park.
- Shopping centers: Orinokia mall, Altavista Mall, Atlántico Mall.
- Family: Macagua Eco museum, Christmas Park and the Italian-Venezuelan Club.
Colleges
Puerto Ordaz is also well known for having one of the best engineering schools in Latin America, the main universities are:
Regional hubs:
- Andrés Bello UCAB (Catholic University)
- UDO (East University)
- Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho (UGMA) University
- Bicentenaria de Aragua (UBA) University
Puerto Ordaz is headquarter of colleges like:
- UNEXPO (Polytechnic Experimental National University)
- UNEG (Experimental National University of Guayana)
Technical Institutes
- U.E.E.T.I. Fundación "La Salle" (San Felix)
- I.U.T. Antonio José de Sucre
- I.U.T. Pedro Emilio Coll
- I.U.P. Santiago Mariño
Tourism
Inside the city both the Llovizna and Cachamay Parks are located displaying their picturesque waterfalls. Other local attractions are the Caroní Ecomuseum located at the Macagua Dam. Near the city from the Angosturita bridge to the San Félix port the union of the Caroní and Orinoco rivers can be seen; the different colors of the water of both rivers make a very distinct demarcation line. Taking Puerto Ordaz as a starting point, the Orinoco Delta can be visited as well as Canaima's National Park and last but not least Guri's reservoirs. Other interesting poinds of visit the colonial castles at the Orinoco riverside and the "Cerro del Elefante" (Elephant's hill)which although not a main tourist attraction is well worth the drive in a 4x4 vehicle. The Castles of Guayana are located at the right side of the Orinoco River, at about 35 kilometers from San Félix.
Hotels
- Intercontinental Guayana Hotel
- Rasil Hotel
- Mara Inn Best Western Hotel
- Embajador Hotel
- Dos Ríos Hotel
See also
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ciudad Guayana |
- BBC article in a Puerto Ordaz aluminium plant
