One week ago, the Western Border was at a virtual standstill as brokers and importers had effected a blockade - refusing to carry goods through until new border management charges had been dropped. Well, it worked; government gave in and the new fees were suspended for a week. And now, what looks to be a lasting compromise has been reached. The Prime Minister met all with parties earlier this week - and that spawned a working group which met yesterday at the Chamber of Commerce. And over the past two days, they've hammered out an agreement which Herrera explained.
Kevin Herrera, General Manager - Chamber of Commerce
"At that meeting we were able to make breakthroughs on two of the categories, that is the overnight parking and the ramp use fees. We still had some issues with the overall parking, I think that was called the visual inspection fee previously. The users of the facility, had a major issue with that category and with the name of that category."
Jules Vasquez,
Yes there is no security there.
Kevin Herrera,
"Yes precisely so we had to try to get over that and so we are actually calling it parking fee now but that was really the sticking point and so we offered two options today to government and in that meeting earlier today, we were able to come to a compromise. Most of the fees were slashed in half and some even less, in one or two cases. So it was tough negotiations, I think, but I think we got something much better than what was being proposed. But I think we live in an era Jules where government and other agencies need to stop trying to just push things down on everybody and try to consult a little more. I think that through this discussions, had we had this earlier I think we could have come to a mutual agreement."
The biggest change comes in the parking fee, which has been reduced from $50 to $10 for vehicles transiting with inputs for the productive sector.
