Puerto Ordaz
Puerto Ordaz is a sector of Ciudad Guayana in the Caroní municipality of Bolívar state, located in southeastern Venezuela. Its estimated population in 2021 was 706,736 inhabitants.
Founded simultaneously with Ciudad Piar, its "twin city", in 1952 as a mining export port on the banks of the Caroní River, at the point where it flows into the Orinoco River.
Puerto Ordaz is the headquarters of mining, steel and hydroelectric companies. Its airport serves as a link between the small airports in the jungle areas of Bolívar State and the rest of the country. Together with the sectors of Matanzas (Industrial and Residential Zone), Unare, Alta Vista and the town of San Félix, they form an urban agglomeration that since July 2, 1961 officially receives the name of Ciudad Guayana.
History
The origin of the province of Guayana dates back to 1585, when the expedition of Antonio Berrío annexed this territory to the island of Trinidad, politically and economically dependent on the province of Santa Fe. In 1729, by Through a royal document, Guayana became dependent on the province of Nueva Andalucía and in 1762 it was decided that it would once again be part of Santa Fe, which at that time had become a viceroyalty. Finally, in 1766, it became part of the Captaincy General of Caracas.
However, the name 'Guyana' It originated in 1532, when Diego de Ordaz entered the Orinoco reaching the rapids of the Atures, and then the Sierra de Imataca. Ordaz called this region the province of Carao, although upon his return, when commenting on his trip, he referred to this place as Guayana, this being the first time that this name was used to identify this region.
Puerto Ordaz, capital of the Caroní Municipality, in Bolívar state, was founded in 1961. This city stretches along the southern bank of the Orinoco just at the point where the Orinoco and Caroní rivers meet. Puerto Ordaz represents one of the most modern urban developments in the country with urban growth planning designed under the schemes of a big city. In it are the headquarters of the basic industries of Guyana, which is why it represents the economic center of the region.
Its birth as a city dates back to 1947, when the iron deposits of Cerro Bolívar were discovered. The Orinoco Mining Company acquired these lands to build its facilities, which also included a port on the Orinoco, which, thanks to dredging, allows the entry of deep-draft ships to export the mineral.
February 9, 1952 is the official day of the foundation of Puerto Ordaz, in honor of Diego de Ordaz, conqueror of the Orinoco and Guayana rivers. But it was finally on July 2, when the National Executive decreed the creation of Santo Tomé de Guayana, made up of Puerto Ordaz, San Félix and Matanzas.
That same year the bridge over the Caroní was built, which allowed the union between Puerto Ordaz and San Félix, being on December 2, 1979, when the Legislative Assembly of the Bolívar state changed its name to Ciudad Guayana.
In this city, which we can classify as an urban model and industrial center par excellence, Sidor, Alcasa, Bauxilum, Venalum, Ferrominera, Ferrocasa, Tecmin, Telecom, Carbonorca and Edelca have their headquarters, the latter is in charge of production of more than 80% of the electrical energy consumed in Venezuela, and exports its energy to some countries in America.
Etymology
The name of the town pays tribute to the Spanish explorer Diego de Ordaz, who was the first European to explore and map the Orinoco River in 1530, during his frantic search for the fabled city of El Dorado.
Economic activity
Puerto Ordaz is the headquarters of basic companies that form the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG) such as Alcasa, Venalum, Bauxilum, Carbonorca (producers of primary aluminum, alumina and anodes for the aluminum industry, respectively), Ferrominera Orinoco (extraction, processing and commercialization of iron), Siderúrgica del Orinoco Alfredo Maneiro (Sidor), is nationalized by the Venezuelan government in April 2008. Sidor has been affected by the low production of the item, for 2007 the plant produced 4.3 million tons while for 2017, it only produces 260,000 metric tons of steel.
The main hydroelectricity producer in Venezuela Edelca (today Corpoelec) also has headquarters in this sector of the town.
Port
The main port is operated by the company Sidor and is used for the export of steel. Most of the fluvial traffic on the Orinoco River is destined for this port. There are thirteen other existing ports in the town.
Transportation
Transportation system: All Ciudad Guayana, of which Puerto Ordaz is a part, is covered far and wide by a system of buses, minibuses and public carts, however the system does not cover the needs, let alone the schedule.
For these reasons, a set of alternative systems have been born: Carts, vans or suvs, minibuses and buses that are classified as direct that go from the neuralgic points of the town, from San Félix to the UD-338, which are the ends, and vice versa, passing through the entire town.
With all these types of transport, the town is still saturated at rush hour, and from there another type of transport is born, which are nothing more than pick-ups with mostly metal cabins and rudimentary seats for people, being this means widely used by low-income people, since they start their journey from the confluence points of urban transport routes from San Félix, Unare and Matanzas to Alta Vista and vice versa.[citation required ]
Puerto Ordaz is crossed from north to south and from east to west by numerous good avenues. Some of them are:
Avenida Guayana: it is the main road artery of the town, since it crosses it from beginning to end, it starts from the toll booth of the Ciudad Bolívar-Ciudad Guayana highway, and crosses all of Ciudad Guayana, crossing Matanzas, Unare, Alta Vista, Puerto Ordaz and crosses the Caroní river through the Brion and Caroni bridge, to arrive at San Félix until reaching its end at the intersection of Avenida Manuel Piar crossing the industrial area, airport, commercial area, residential area, including the tourist area as it passes through the Cachamay Park.
Atlántico Avenue: runs along Puerto Ordaz in a west-east direction along the southern edge of the town. It begins at the intersection of Avenida Leopoldo Sucre Figarella with Avenida Bolivia and Paseo Caroní, where the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) - Colegio Loyola Gumilla, Resid is located. Loefling, Resid. Los Mangos and Residential Sector. Los Altos, ending for the moment in the southern zone of the UD-338, covering Alta Vista Sur, Unare and Matanzas Sur.
Avenida Las Américas: This avenue starts at the intersection with Avenida Expresa 1 in Alta Vista behind Makro Comercializadora and Orinokia Mall, crossing the north side of Alta Vista, Puerto Ordaz, South Side from the Historic Center of the town and ending at Avenida Castillito, with a brief extension of little traffic towards the banks of the Caroní River in the Puerto Libre sector.
Paseo Caroní: It starts at Avenida Norte Sur in the western sector of the town and ends at the intersection of Avenida Atlántico with Av. Bolivia and Av. Leopoldo Sucre Figarella, crossing part of la Matanzas, Unare and dividing Alta Vista into the South and North sectors.
Avenida Castillito: This runs through the Puerto Ordaz sector from its beginning at Avenida de los Trabajadores (former Av. Angosturita) Passing through Resid. La Floresta, Field B, CVG Ferrominera, Resid. María Luisa, Hospital Americo Babo, Mercado Pto. Ordaz, Puerto Libre, crosses Av. Las Américas, Urb. Orinoco, Sector Castillito Un Barrio Pobre, Sector La Curva and ends at Av. Guayana, having at its ends a side the C.T.E. Cachamay (Old Cachamay Stadium), on the other side Parking C of the CTE, and in front of the Cachamay Park.
Manuel Piar International Airport: is the air gateway to Ciudad Guayana and is also the main airport in Bolívar state in terms of passenger volume (approx. 2,800 pasaj/day). It has a 2.05 km runway, recently a project is underway for a runway of approximately 550 meters more than the existing 2.05 km, in order to bring it to about 2.6 km; In this way, the airport would be able to allow the landing of 727-200, 737-200, 737-300, 737-400, A320 (90,000 kg. or 190,000 Lb) aircraft.
Bus Terminal: the passenger terminal is located in front of Plaza de la Paz, 500 m from the airport. Although San Félix also has a terminal, the one in Puerto Ordaz links this town with the rest of the nation more easily.
Hydroelectric power plants
Puerto Ordaz is home to the Macagua I, Macagua II and Caruachi hydroelectric plants. All three are located within the urban limit of Ciudad Guayana. Additionally, on the outskirts of the city, there are Guri and Tocoma (which to date is under construction).
Guri is, for now, the second largest dam in the world, in terms of hydroelectric generation capacity, and gave rise to the Guri reservoir, the second largest lake in Venezuela, located on the Caroní River in about 80 km upstream from its confluence with the Orinoco.
Las Macaguas Dam, located 10 km (6 miles) upstream from the confluence of the Caroní and Orinoco rivers, 81 km (50 miles) downstream from the Guri dam and 22 kilometers (14 miles) upstream below the Caruachi dam. The main objective of the dam is the generation of hydroelectric energy for the steel company, but today it generates energy for a large part of Venezuela. Located 10 kilometers upstream from the confluence of the Caroní and Orinoco rivers in the urban perimeter of Ciudad Guayana, Its generation capacity, located at 2,540 megawatts, is guaranteed by 12 generating units of 216 megawatts each, driven by Francis-type turbines under a net head of 46.4 m. installed in the Machine House. The design of the work was carried out in order to disturb the natural environment as little as possible, since it is located near the Ciudad Guayana park system (Cachamay, Loefling, Punta Vista and La Llovizna). The Macagua II Project includes the works to complete the closure of the river and form a reservoir, taking advantage of the regulated flow from the Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Power Plant in Guri.
Universities
Together with San Félix (Venezuela) it shares as Ciudad Guayana the following university venues such as:
- Universidad Católica Andrés Bello - Guayana (UCAB) (Puerto Ordaz)
- National Polytechnic Experimental University (UNEXPO) (Puerto Ordaz)
- Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana (UNEG) (Puerto Ordaz)
- National Polytechnic University of the Bolivarian Armed Forces (UNEFA) (Puerto Ordaz and San Félix)
- Universidad Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho (UGMA) (Puerto Ordaz y San Félix)
University Institutes of Technology:
- Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales (San Félix)
- I.U.T.I.R.L.A (Puerto Ordaz and San Félix)
- I.U.T. Antonio José de Sucre (Puerto Ordaz)
- I.U.T. Pedro Emilio Coll (Puerto Ordaz)
- I.U.T Monseñor de Talavera Puerto Ordaz)
Polytechnic University Institutes
- Instituto Universitario Politécnico Santiago Mariño (IUPSM) (Puerto Ordaz)
Regional nuclei of study houses such as:
- University of the East (UDO) (San Felix)
- Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB) (Puerto Ordaz)
- Universidad Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho (UGMA) (Puerto Ordaz y San Félix)
- Bicentennial University of Aragua (UBA) (San Félix)
Tourism
Within the town are the La Llovizna and Cachamay parks, with their natural waterfalls from the lower Caroní. Other local attractions are the Caroní Ecomuseum, the Macagua I and II dams, probably the only case of a diversion dam from a natural waterfall within a city. The fracture of the relief of this waterfall presents two waterfalls: the Cachamay waterfall next to the city of Puerto Ordaz itself, with an impressive width of about 800 m although low, and the La Llovizna waterfall, with several higher waterfalls. and of great flow, although somewhat shorter. In this last area, located on the right bank of the Caroní (near the old Caroní Mission, founded by the Catalan Capuchins), the Macagua I hydroelectric power station was built, diverting part of the river's flow and taking advantage of the natural unevenness of the relief. Said dam was considerably expanded with a larger and higher reservoir, which gave rise to a larger hydroelectric plant, Macagua II, next to the one that already existed. There is also the iron ore stone from the foundation of the city, located in the Plaza Centro Cívico in Puerto Ordaz.
In the city, from the Angosturita bridge and in the port of San Félix, you can see the impressive confluence of the Orinoco and Caroní rivers; the differentiated color of the waters of both rivers presents the natural spectacle of the struggle between two currents that first coexist, then intertwine and finally mix.
On December 3, 2006, the imposing Orinoquia Bridge was inaugurated, which crosses the Orinoco River, avoiding the need to go to Ciudad Bolívar or use the traditional punts.
Although Puerto Ordaz, because it is far from the sea, does not have marine beaches; It does have beaches on the edge of the Macagua reservoir on the banks of the Caroní River; Among them, there is a camp called Playa Bonita, with tourist facilities.
Taking Puerto Ordaz as a starting point, you can visit the Orinoco Delta, the Canaima National Park, the Guri Reservoir, the Caruachi Reservoir, the Tocoma Dam (under construction), the colonial castles on the banks of the Orinoco River and many other points of great interest. The Castillos de Guayana are located on the right bank of the Orinoco, about 35 km downstream from San Félix, although already in the territory of Delta Amacuro state.
Also, the city of Puerto Ordaz is privileged, since it is the venue and finish line of the Nuestros Ríos Son Navigables International Nautical Rally, which is the most important nationally and the longest in the world held in freshwater.
Puerto Ordaz, although it does not have beaches, contains various spas that can be found in the waters of the Caroní River, among which we find Playa Bonita and Campamento Tierra Nueva.
Social communication
Puerto Ordaz depends on its own print media, some of the most important in the town are Nueva Prensa de Guayana, Correo del Caroní, El Diario de Guayana and Primicia. On television, the signals of public and private capital are available, which are transmitted from Caracas and are received with their respective UHF and VHF repeater antennas such as Tves (channel 4), Venevisión (channel 2), Venezolana de Televisión (channel 8), Televen (channel 10) and ViVe, while it includes the signals of regional scope in the locality; such as TV Guayana (Channel 12), Orinoco Televisión, Calipso TV and TV Río. In radio it has a large number of AM/FM stations of all kinds of varieties such as news and music from companies such as Circuito Unión Radio, FM Center and independent stations.
Sports
Guyana has the first sportsman World Champion and Participant in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, as is the great World Outstanding Athlete Jonathan Mosquito Suárez.
It has a professional soccer team in the first division, Asociación Civil Mineros de Guayana, and two teams in the second division, LALA FC and AIFI, which play in the C.T.E. Cachamay (former Cachamay Stadium), which has a capacity of 41,600 spectators.
In basketball playing in the LPBV is the Gigantes de Guayana team, whose home is the Hermanas González Gymnasium with a capacity of 2000 spectators that is located within the grounds of the C.T.E. cachamay.
The town is the headquarters and finish line of the International Nautical Rally Our rivers are navigable, the most important nationally and the longest in the world held in fresh water.
It has a professional volleyball team whose name is Huracanes de Bolívar and its headquarters are the Hermanas González Gymnasium, which is also used for basketball, as mentioned above.