On November 27, representatives of the province of El Oro requested the General Comptroller of the State in Guayaquil to examine the public-private partnership contract between the government of former President Rafael Correa, the Port Authority of Puerto Bolivar, and the Turkish company Yilport.
The banana sector has expressed its concerns about the current administration of the port.
Recently, the banana workers met with government officials and staged a protest. However, they say they have not had any news about the contract revision.
The president of the Association of Banana Exporters, Alex Serrano, said that if the port enforced the tariff increases planned for the coming months, their businesses would be in trouble: "It is economically unfeasible. It would make it impossible to sell the fruit. We would have losses in exports, we would lose fruits, jobs, and transporters."
The concessionaire, Yilportecu SA, stated that: "The public-private partnership process has been developed in strict adherence to the Ecuadorian regulations, and following the parameters established by the competent authorities."
According to estimates, at least one third of the Ecuadorian bananas sold abroad are exported through Puerto Bolivar.
Source: ecuavisa.com