The Attorney General of the Nation has requested that the government of President Gustavo Petro work on solutions for San Andres and Providencia to avoid what he describes as an upcoming “economic explosion”. The department has been affected by the suspension of airline operations by Live Air and Ultra Air. The Executive is considering declaring an Economic Emergency for the archipelago. San Andres and Providencia usually receive 131,000 tourists monthly, but since the airlines stopped operating, the number dropped to just over half of users. The decline in the figure exceeds 68 percent, indicating a tragic economic uncertainty. The Attorney General’s Office convened a work table with the government of San Andrés, the Ministry of Mines, and the Ministry of Commerce, to work together and adopt substantive actions to avoid the reduction in tourism leading up to Easter. The meeting resulted in several measures to encourage tourism, such as generating incentives for companies with flights to that department to increase the number of trips. The Vice Ministry of Tourism and Fontour are working on obtaining an investment in the tourist infrastructure of the island. Additionally, the government is studying the possibility of declaring the economic emergency in the archipelago and reducing the VAT cost and fuel rates for those areas of the country. The Attorney General’s Office has requested that the intervention of third parties be studied after the resolution that green-lighted the integration between Viva Air and Avianca.
In order to avoid what he described as an eventual “economic explosion” in San Andres and Providenciathe attorney General de la Nación asked the Government of President Gustavo Petro to work on solutions for that department, affected by the suspension of airline operations live air y Ultra Air.
(You can read: Viva Air: can we talk about a massive scam due to the suspension of operations?).
For the moment, the Executive announced that it is studying the possibility of declare the Economic Emergency for the archipelago. But to understand the situation, according to the control body, the call stems from the crisis that thousands of travelers have experienced in recent weeks, especially since an environment of losses and social and economic uncertaintyrecently alerted by the governor Everth Hawkins.
And it is that according to information in the hands of the Attorney General, San Andrés and Providencia received 131,000 tourists monthly, but since the two airlines in question stopped operating, the number dropped to just over half of users. In other words, there was a decrease in the figure that exceeds 68 percent.
Departure from San Andrés of travelers in Air Force planes.
Twitter: @MinTransporteCo
This, seen in another way, means that they went from having 34 flights a day to only eight, and that they have stopped receiving 80,000 million pesos just for the tourist card concept.
(We leave you: Viva Air: Prosecutor’s Office will intervene in search of a solution to the crisis in airports).
For Gabriel del Torodelegate attorney for the Public Function, this crisis led the entity led by Margarita Cabello to take various actions in order to stop the effects on both merchants and tourists.
In view of this, one of the activities programmed by the Attorney General’s Office was to convene a work table with the Government of San Andrés, with the Ministry of Mines and with the Ministry of Commerce, to jointly adopt substantive actions that allow avoid the reduction in tourism in the run up to the holidays of Easter.
Precisely, for this rest date, it has been recorded that the hotel occupancy is at 37 percent.
The appointment took place on Thursday of last week, when representatives of the two portfolios sat at a table, as well as agents of the Attorney General’s Office and the National Tourism Fund (Font). At the meeting, as this newspaper learned, several measures were proposed to encourage tourism.
Outputs
The affectations that travelers have denounced in various ways have to do with the impossibility of traveling due to the cessation of operations of Viva Air and Ultra Air. The first company stopped its activities on the night of February 27, and the second did the same on March 30, arguing problems due to the rise of the dollar and fuel.
Since then, several authorities have been present at airports -through Unified Command Posts (PMU) – in order to find ways out for people who were stuck. At the meeting on Thursday, the last requests and possible solutions were given to mitigate the crisis at Easter.
Decisions have been adopted in order to review the possibility of San Andrés being a border zone, and thus generate tax exemptions in tax matters
“Important decisions have been adopted in order to review the possibility that San Andrés is a border zoneand thus generate tax exemptions in tax matters, and generate a decrease in hydrocarbons in this area,” explained attorney Gabriel del Toro.
According to information learned by this newspaper, the authorities in the area are waiting for the ministries of Mines and Finance to issue a technical concept that will give free rein to these tax exemptions.
At the same time, the convened table also discussed the approaches that representatives of the Civil Aeronautics and the San Andrés Secretary of Tourism are making with Costa Rican airlines, with which they intend to start operations on the island.
Susan Stroemer, president of the Colombian Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (Anato), said that the Government must carefully review the financial statements of an airline when it enters to operate in the country.
(We leave you: ‘Chiquito Malo’, top boss of the Gulf clan, is he sick or dead?).
In addition, it is planned to generate incentives for companies that already have flights to that department, in exchange for increasing the number of trips. This mission is also in charge of the Vice Ministry of Tourism and Fontur, with which they seek to obtain an investment for the tourist infrastructure of the island.
They study declaring an emergency
The Minister of Transport, William Reyesindicated to the media that in a council of ministers to be held this Tuesday in Bajo Cauca, Antioquia, it is planned to talk about the air emergency that is taking place in various areas of the country.
Guillermo Reyes, Minister of Transportation.
Ministry of Transport
“We hope that they will make possible the possibility of applying a series of value added tax benefitsboth gasoline and tickets, for San Andrés, via the Border Law,” said the head of the Transportation portfolio on Monday.
And he anticipated that the Government is studying the possibility of declaring the Economic emergency in the archipelago. And that it was decided to declare San Andrés, Leticia, Santa Marta, Cartagena and Riohacha as social destinations, “so that by virtue of the 2020 Tourism Law it is possible to adopt measures that will alleviate some burdens, particularly in terms of taxes ”.
He also said that the Government will analyze a project that allows the VAT cost reduction and the fuel rate for those areas of the country.
New debate in airline union
On March 30, the Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics (Aerocivil) fI have sent a 90-page document with which the Attorney General’s Office requests that the intervention of third parties be studied after the resolution that gave the green light to the integration between Viva Air and Avianca.
This is Resolution number 00518 of March 21, 2023, which approved the union of the two airlines. However, in this process, for Fernanda García Flórez, Judicial Attorney 119 II before Administrative Litigation, although a series of requirements to be met were agreed upon, the law would have been applied as it is not. That is, the case was handled with Law 1437 of 2011 (the Code of Administrative Procedure and Administrative Litigation), and not with Law 1340 of 2009, designed for these events.
With this, the Attorney General’s Office makes it clear that it is not that it opposes the union between the airlines, but that it warns of a formal error regarding the role of third parties interested in this debate: companies such as Latam and Wingo.
For this reason, García requests that Law 1340 be used in number 2 of article 10, which specifies and limits the participation of third parties. With this rule, The other companies can only intervene in an integration in certain cases, and not in the way they are doing with Viva Air and Avianca.
Carlos Lopez
Justice Drafting
On Twitter: @CarlosL49
[email protected]
In conclusion, the crisis in San Andres and Providencia caused by the suspension of airline operations by Live Air and Ultra Air has led to a significant decrease in tourism to the area. The attorney general has called for solutions and declared the possibility of an economic emergency for the archipelago. The government has proposed measures such as tax exemptions, incentives for companies with flights to the department, and the declaration of San Andres, Leticia, Santa Marta, Cartagena, and Riohacha as social destinations. The airline union is also facing a new debate regarding the resolution that approved the integration between Viva Air and Avianca. It remains to be seen how effective these proposed solutions will be in mitigating the effects of the current crisis in San Andres and Providencia.