Ports: the Navy wants to return to its role

Ecuadornews:

The waves are shaken in the maritime and port administrations of the country: the Navy has convinced, by word of mouth, the President of the Republic, Lenin Moreno, to take the helm again.

The ports are under the administration of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP), through the Under-secretariat of the branch and the Port Authorities, but the sailors elaborate a legal analysis to recover their domains, in the middle of executive decrees that do not have any relation with the current legislation.

Roberto Tandazo Granda, undersecretary of Support for the Development of the Defense Sector, revealed in a letter to Omar Alvear Oramas, Substitute Commander of the Navy, that they have made a verbal request for reinstatement and that this has been accepted by the President of the Republic Lenin Moreno, “with the endorsement of the Ministry of Transportation”, so it is necessary to “formalize the request for reinstatement”.

Newspaper Diario EXPRESO learned that there is already a draft decree that returns the functions to Defense, but after the problems raised (drug discovery and arms sales to the Colombian narco-guerrilla) the Government stopped him.

The Government of Rafael Correa delegated to the MTOP, through executive decrees, the administrations that Defense had, but not all, for which there is a hybrid management model. Still Defense maintains the control of the Civil Aviation and of the computer system of control of traffic of the boats.

Tandazo asks Rear Admiral Alvear to carry out a legal analysis with arguments that justify the transfer of powers of the Undersecretariat of Ports and Maritime and Fluvial Transports that are now in charge of the MTOP and that must be reincorporated to “control and administration of the Naval Force”.

A legal analysis that already shows aspects, both legal. First, the current legislation, that is, the General Ports Act (1976), has not been modified, therefore neither the support of the entities that were created under its aegis, such as the General Directorate of Merchant Marine and Ports (Digmer). , the Directory of the port authorities, such as Guayaquil and others.

But the executive decrees (with legal support) that created the Undersecretariat and modified the port authorities are also in force. The reforms to the law have not been discussed in the Assembly.

Beyond the legal analysis, users point out that the MTOP has made gross mistakes, for example, by placing people with little experience or training in the fields in the administrations. Last week it was corrected in the Undersecretariat: a master in ports was appointed, graduated in Belgium, Sandra Asanza.

Three details

Ports

They are the most important part of the logistics chain in charge of the MTOP, where more than 95% of the products enter and exit.

Shipping Companies

The shipping industry is the most diverse, formed by multinational companies and all operating from Ecuador, especially from Guayaquil.

Support

The ports and the shipping companies are the support for the most important businesses in the country, for the income generated by bananas and shrimp. (I)

Source: https://www.expreso.ec/economia/puertos-control-seguridad-armada-ministeriodefensa-BG2448131