He broad front strongly questioned the Ministry of Tourism (Mintur) due to the non-inclusion of policies aimed at recovering tourism in Uruguay at the pre-pandemic level in the draft law of Accountability for next year.
The Budget Committee integrated with Tax authorities of the Chamber of Deputies is analyzing the project presented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the last budgetary message from the current administration that allows an increase in public spending. Within the framework of these works, the commission received authorities from the Mintur to analyze the proposals corresponding to the portfolio directed by Tabare Viera.
In this regard, the minister clarified in a subsequent press conference that one of the ministry’s budget requests is the “creation of the National Tourist Intelligence System ”, which “goes hand in hand with having more and better information, which is very important, data to make decisions and to plan strategically, information that is also available to everyone, including operators”.
Viera added that other requirements of his paragraph “go in the direction of some item redistributions, that is, they have no costsit is zero cost, but with the possibility of improving some specific compensations and, on the other hand, the possibility of having more seasonal hires for some particular activities such as inspections, records, attention to some fairs and surveys that are carried out especially in the summer season”.
Criticism of the Broad Front
The appearance of the Mintur officials was not entirely peaceful: some deputies from the Broad Front confronted the undersecretary of the portfolio, Rowing Monzeglio, particularly with regard to the air connectivity, one of the great earrings that the ministry has after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also at a subsequent press conference, the Frente Amplista deputy Lilian Galan explained that his sector disagreed “with the numbers they presented” from the Ministry of Tourism. “A few days ago we heard the minister saying that it was a very bad tourism season, because he had not yet recovered from the pandemic, with which we agree. And he still adds today the problem of the exchange rate with respect to Argentina. We see that there are no public policies to be able to carry out the recovery of the sector,” said the opposition legislator.
For Galán, “internal tourism public policies that can alleviate” the situation with the neighboring country must be established. Also, he criticized the Tourism program for all because “it is a very expensive policy” that only beneficiaries of the Social Welfare Bank (BPS)when, “in reality, the vast majority would not agree to the prices that tourism has today in Uruguay.”
The deputy also questioned before the press that the lack of staff in the Mintur: he criticized that “many more officials” are needed and the ministry “requests hiring seasonal workers.” “It is a ministry that is in a very compromised situation with 49 fewer officials,” he reported.
Finally, Galán said that Viera “came to talk about good intentions, and we all have good intentions; In the Broad Front we also want tourism to do well, because it is a sector that has been severely affected by the pandemic, it is a sector that has not been recovered”.
Source: Ambito
