SOUTH AMERICA

Judge to rule on Paita and Callao concessions

14 years ago

Perus Constitutional Court is on the verge of making its landmark ruling on the legal protection being sought by members of the Enapu National Workers Federation (Fenenapu) in respect of the status of the concessions granted at the ports of Paita and Callao (North Terminal).

The workers stress that conditions included in the concession should be viewed as “harmful” to the national interest and, if so found, should be annulled by the Constitutional Court.

“We hope the judges will vote in favour of our request,” said Leopoldo Ortiz, leader of the port union. “The Constitutional Court has enough justification to override these processes (at Callao and Paita), because the decrees which the government used to privatise them were given exclusively to make the free trade agreement with the US viable and had nothing to do with the ports themselves.”

To date, the granting of the concessions has been questioned by the Navy, regulators, trade unions and business sectors affected by surcharges on foreign trade.