MONTEVIDEO, April 18 (Prensa Latina) The government’s denounced 50-year port exploitation concession to a multinational in Uruguay came back into the focus of the judiciary in a week of hearings at the prosecutor’s office today.
Executive sources told a TV news program that they will produce a new documentary on the pact to give the Belgian company Katoen Natie (KN) the monopoly of the specialized container terminal in Montevideo until 2081.
The prosecutor responsible for the investigation, Gilberto Rodríguez, summoned two directors of the National Ports Administration (ANP), in addition to the manager and the lawyer of the above-mentioned company. The Broad Front group of senators filed criminal charges last September over the signed agreement, which represented a serious loss of national sovereignty in an area of strategic importance to the country.
The Senator of the Frente Amplio, Charles Carrera, mentioned that the signing of the agreement was attended by the Minister of Transport at the time, Luis Alberto Heber, the Pro-Secretary of the Presidency, Rodrigo Ferrés, the President of the ANP, Juan Curbelo, and the Secretary of State of the Portfolio, Juan Jose Olaizola.
During an earlier parliamentary question, Heber defended the controversial concession as “a great opportunity, a great deal for Uruguay because it will leave behind the largest investment in the history of the port”.
On the other hand, the Chilean-Canadian port company Montecon will take the Uruguayan state to an international arbitral tribunal because of the monopoly granted to the Belgian KN, according to the weekly Brecha.
The General Director of the operator of the Montevideo Public Docks, Martín González, confirmed to this media the filing of lawsuits to defend their interests and investments in Uruguay, protected by agreements signed with Canada and Chile.
Montecon dockers went on strike in December and faced the risk of losing 700 jobs under the monopoly granted to multinational Katoen Natie.
jf/hr