Irregularities come to light in Chile

As a result, two government departments have been asked to look into anomalies amounting to US$3.8m.

In one case, an agreement signed in August 1999 by a certain Walter Astorga Lobos could not have taken place given that the individual concerned was not even in the country. The early retirement scheme was also clearly not implemented correctly. For example, 53 people who were not eligible – because they were not over 40 years of age – nevertheless received a total of US$814,000 in severance pay. Another 38 people were given redundancy payments totalling US$568,000 even though they had not worked for the minimum number of years in the industry to be eligible for payment. Funds for retraining ex-stevedores worth US$418,000 were also incorrectly administered.