Deputies from the Communist bloc and a group of fairgrounds arrived at the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic to request the highest authority of the supervisory body, Jorge Bermudez, to interpret in a “fair and correct” way the Bono Alivio Pymes law to specify the payment of the benefit to fairgrounds with municipal permits up to date.
For Deputy Daniel Nunez, author of the indication that Congress approved to include all fairgrounds with his current authorization, Economy Minister Lucas Palacios has made a “tricky and distorted” interpretation of the law.
“The government, through Economy Minister Lucas Palacios, has made a contrary and distorted interpretation of the law that contravenes the entire spirit of the law that existed in Parliament, both in the House and in the Senate, where this was approved unanimously,” Nunez stressed.
According to the deputy for the Coquimbo region, Comptroller Bermudez is expected to make a “fair and correct” interpretation of the law.
Nunez demanded that the government hand over the 1 million peso bond as soon as possible. Otherwise, he warned Minister Palacios that “the fairgrounds are going to stand up and make you tremble if you don’t hand over the bond, so think again.”
For his part, Deputy Boris Barrera said that “the whole Congress celebrated this law, even sectors of the same government celebrated because we had been able to incorporate the fairgrounds on this occasion and now they invent a fine print. We invite you to be vigilant because we cannot lower our arms. We can’t let the government take a off leaving thousands of fairgoers without this relief bond, because it’s an act of justice that they can access this benefit.
For the president of the Association of Free Fairs, Héctor Tejada, this is a very absurd situation because “the government interprets the law once it is enacted and contravenes the whole spirit of the legislative power. No kidding that the unanimity of the senators clearly legislated what they were doing. This is a shady interpretation.”
The union leader also announced that from this weekend fairgoers throughout Chile will be on a “fighting footing” to demand payment of the bonus.
“We fairgrounds are on a fighting footing. This weekend at all the free fairs in Chile there are going to be black flags in protest at this unjust and arbitrary attitude. This is a decision that the president has to take and tell the minister to legislate accordingly, because even a state power is being disrespected,” Tejada emphasized.
