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Banana carriers ask the government to control Yilport
Posted On 16 Nov 2017
Ecuadornews:
One of the outputs is to send the fruit from Guayaquil´s port, where the rate is $ 0.13. This measure would cause loss of jobs.
The Madero Vargas Avenue, in Machala, was the scene of the protest of the banana workers, stevedores and their families against the Turkish multinational Yilport. The inconvenience is due to the increase in the port fee. It will go from $ 0.17 – $ 0.15 paid by the exporter and $ 0.02 by the Government – to $ 0.24 in 2018 and $ 0.28 in 2019.
The company has the concession of Puerto Bolivar. The protesters showed their discomfort by 27 rates. Some items have an increase of one hundred percent and others were created with the new administration.
Among the complaints, they stated that the Turkish company is the most expensive port services provider in the country.
The president of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE), Eduardo Ledesma, said that if the excessive charges continue, the banana farmers of Ourense will have two options: disappear or that the boats come to Guayaquil, where $ 0.13 is charged for the same work that is done in Puerto Bolivar. In either case the results for El Oro will be negative. The sector is one of the main job generators.
“We are not against private investment, but it can not be that there is a monopoly,” said Raúl Lara, president of the Banana Chamber of El Oro.
Yilport has the port´s concession, for 50 years, since August 2016.
Prior to the march, the Minister of Transport and Public Works, Paul Granda, stressed that a commission to review the concession will be created. Puerto Bolivar exports 30% of the country’s banana production.
El Oro concentrates 50% of the small banana producers in Ecuador. (I)
Source: http://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/
