MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Breaking News from Pta. Arenas

Headlines: Insecurity; Redundancies in Punta Arenas port; Abattoir sale controversy.

Insecurity in Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas residents, and hospital emergency authorities, are once again concerned about the growing level of violence and urban insecurity following the stabbing of three students, a particularly vicious armed robbery and the growing threat against vulnerable population such as school children and the elderly. Farmers are also complaining about the expansion of cattle rustling. The university students were attacked in three different incidents at night by gangs of minors armed with knives who either stole money, personal belongings and in one case chips that the victim had just purchased in a night stall. In this last case the victim had to be flown to Santiago after emergency surgery since the mobility of his hand was seriously imperilled after having tendons cut during the attack. Some high schools have decided that children leave in groups or be accompanied to avoid being robbed, attacked or provoked by violent juveniles when they walk home or are waiting for a bus. This becomes particularly crucial as days become shorter. Punta Arenas Regional Council that will be meeting this week has the security issue top of the list and the Citizens Security Committee have asked local Carabineros to participate since there are reports that the total number of the force is below the 1995/98 average.

Redundancies in Punta Arenas port

Following strict budgetary restrictions imposed by the Chilean Ministry of Finance, the Magallanes Port Authority, EPA, has been forced to a draconian cut in the payroll, including top level redundancies. According to Eduardo Manzanares, EPA's current Manager the instruction from Santiago was an immediate 20% reduction in payroll costs over last year, meaning that either salaries were cut or employees left redundant. Since under Chilean law salary reductions are illegal, EPA can either fire an employee and re-contract him or simply reduce the number of employees. Apparently EPA Board of Directors decided to cut the number of employees from 34 to 27 and the first to leave were the General Manager Fernando Castillo and three of his closest advisors. However Mr. Manzanares stressed that capital investment will proceed as planned including a long jetty in Puerto Natales for 150 meters long cruise vessels. "All decisions have been taken and there's no second list. What happens is that we're discussing the terms of some of the redundancies and this can take time", said Mr. Manzanares, who added that the Ministry of Finance instruction is in the framework of the self-financing policy imposed to all government managed companies.

Abattoir sale controversy

The decision to privatize Magallanes Region second most important abattoir has triggered a controversy involving farmers and elected officials who fear that without a government managed plant a virtual monopoly could emerge. The Sacor abattoir in Porvernir last year exported 1,500 tons of lamb, mutton and beef and is closely linked to the future development of a dynamic organic sheep farming policy based on the recent trade agreements reached between Chile and the European Union, South Korea and other bilateral understandings. With this in mind the abattoir has been involved in a 5 million US dollars plan to reduce costs and ensure international certification. However farmers associations and elected Councillors fear that Sacor in private hands could easily end in a quasi-monopoly situation with the other main privately owned plant, threatening free market conditions regarding cattle prices and payment conditions. A consulting company recently finished an inventory assessment of the plant that further ignited the controversy. According to current book value, the plant with all its assets is valued in 6,5 million US dollars. A second assessment following a plant replacement criteria arrives to 4,55 million US dollars, with 1,54 million in civil construction; 2,6 million in equipment and working tools and 0,38 in the necessary land acquisition. And a third assessment taking into account the promotion legislation for investments in extreme areas such as in the Chilean Patagonia, the so called Navarino Bill, concludes that the plant is worth just 12,000 US dollars. This means that the benefits of the legislation that can only be requested by the private sector, could easily reach five million US dollars.