The mayor of Río Negro, Omar Lafluf, maintained that customs controls at the border of Uruguay with Argentina you already show its positive results, and that the department’s merchants recognize the positive changes in relation to a decrease in smuggling.
“It is going very well, from what the merchants tell me, it has been noticed,” said Lafluf in dialogue with Radio Monte Carlo, when asked about the measures. greater control that were implemented at the border. The comment is more significant if you take into account that it was the merchants of this department who personally complained to the president. Luis Lacalle Pou for more initiatives aimed at the “crossing of illegal merchandise”, based on the exchange difference with Argentina.
As an example of the efficiency of the new double control that was implemented, Lafluf pointed out that since the National Customs Directorate (DNA) seizures increased significantly: “A bus coming from Argentina was seized 7 million pesos in merchandise and a few thousand bottles of Fernet, for example. The warehouse that has Customs in Fray Bentos “It is practically full of confiscated merchandise.”
“But the most important thing is that the merchants themselves tell me that they have already noticed the tightening that is being done to the smuggling”, added the mayor of Río Negro.
Employment and summer season, two other points related to the exchange difference
On the other hand, Lafluf also referred to two other issues that concern and occupy the Municipality, and that also have to do with the exchange difference with Argentina. On the one hand, he pointed out unemployment, whose figures were published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) and they recorded an “11-something” in Río Negro —although the data disaggregated by department has not yet been released, the town had an unemployment rate of 11.4% in the October measurement.
“I had asked for a job Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) where they told me that 90% of the unemployment we have is people with very little training. There is more employment, the employment rate increases, the activity rate increases, but as there are more people looking for work, the unemployment increases. Despite that, we are constantly working to see how we alleviate this situation, but it is not easy,” explained Lafluf, in this regard.
Refering to summer seasonanother issue of great importance, the mayor pointed out that they are preparing “like every year”, although “in better conditions because we have several things that we did not have as well prepared last year, such as the entire project of ecotourism of the Farrapos Wetlands, New Berlin and San Javier”.
Although many of these areas are currently affected by the floods, from the rise of the Uruguay River, Lafluf announced that they hope the water will go down: “we already have the shelters made on the islands, 60 kayaks, the armed festivals and the heritage site,” he said.
Argentines and Uruguayans alike are targets of the department’s tourism promotions; task for which the measures announced by the Ministry of Tourism, especially in those referring to the internal tourism.
Source: Ambito
