A few weeks before the start of the rainy season, the administrative and criminal proceedings against the owner of the land that collapsed in the kilometer 24.5 of the route to El Salvador they remain unresolved.
The Municipality of Fraijanes imposed a fine of Q500 thousand to César Érick Rolando Winter Chenowner of the land. However, the owner has presented several appeals before a judge, arguing that he is not to blame for the collapse occurring due to natural causes, according to Rudy Ortiz, secretary of the commune. Collection of the fine will be mandatory until these processes are exhausted.
After several weeks without being locatedmunicipality personnel managed to notify Winter Chen about the administrative sanctioning process against him in one of the properties he has registered in Fraijanes.
According to Ortiz, he was imposed the highest fine allowed by the Municipal Code, for rcarry out construction work without having a license. It was also required to implement mitigation measures to reduce the vulnerability of the place, which must be supported with a study prepared by a geologist or specialist in the matter.
“Not only do we care that he pays the penalty for what he did, but if the Ministry of Communications does not want or cannot invest in the place, that he (Winter Chen) takes charge of the mitigation measures,” said the municipal secretary.
“We do not know how long this may take in the courts, but on our part we are exhausting the process that corresponds to us and we are taking action through administrative and criminal channels,” he added, since the Municipality of Fraijanes also filed a criminal complaint with the Public Ministry (MP) against the owner of the land.
No progress
While the processes related to the fine are being resolved in the courts and the criminal complaint in the MP, the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV) still does not have the final results of the technical studies to know the natural risks of the land where the collapse occurred, which would serve to support the civil engineering works. The portfolio could receive the reports in the second half of April.
As part of the repairs being carried out in the area, prior to the start of the rainy season, the ministry indicated that the rolling surface – the top and final layer of a pavement – is being repaired.
“The slope area is not going to be intervened yet, since the legal issue must be resolved and because it is a private area,” indicated the CIV.
At the time, the authorities indicated that the ministry’s responsibility was to keep the highway, which is Central American, open, and They would only intervene from the edge towards 40 meters on each side. The additional work had to be carried out by the owner of the land where the landslide occurred.
The authorities of the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) also indicated that the owner of the work had to be responsible for the mitigation measures, since he left the mountain at 90 degrees, without any protection, which caused the collapse.
When the slope collapsed, the CIV carried out cleaning and patching work in the area; The central flower bed was demolished to make way for the lanes and, as a containment barrier, it was placed on October 11. eight standard sea containers —used for transportation in ships and trucks—, which were filled with rocks. Each structure measures 12 meters long, 2.4 wide and 2.6 high.
The measure was announced as provisional, while a better solution was found to intervene at the affected point. However, the structures remain in place “preventively,” according to the ministry.
He CIV also filed a complaint in the MP against Winter Chen for the damage and losses caused at kilometer 24.5 of the highway to El Salvador. The ministry indicated that it is awaiting the progress of the investigation carried out by the prosecutor’s office.
The facts
On October 6, 2025, at 3:35 a.m., a 30-meter-high slope collapsed under the rain; tons of earth fell on a gas station and a convenience store in the execution phase, and the guardian was buried. The work lacked a construction license and did not have environmental impact studies issued by the competent authorities.
Said land measures three thousand 700 square metersaccording to the cadastral record of the Municipality of Fraijanes, and is owned by Winter Chen.
In the upper part of the slope is the subdivision Gold Jewelwhere several houses were declared at risk and, during cleaning work, at least five were evacuated.
Ortiz points out that the municipality “cannot invest in private land,” so they work on actions within their jurisdiction, such as wastewater and stormwater management plans for neighbors to implement, in addition to notifying neighboring property owners about the risks in the area.
He assures that, faced with a new rainy season, there is concern that the recovery of the road section will not progress and that they will send a memorial to the Ministry of Communications to report on the progress of the work and the mitigation measures implemented, recommended by Conred last year.