Tierra del Fuego stands up to increases in gas rates

“Broad political consensus in the province

“Tierra del Fuego stands up to the increases in gas rates

“Governor Melella and leaders from across the province signed a collective claim in court. They denounce agreements between Camuzzi and the national government.

“Accompanied by the entire political spectrum of the province, the governor of Tierra del Fuego, Gustavo Melella, signed a collective protection that he will present in the federal justice system based in Río Grande, to stop rate increases in gas bills corresponding to the month of April.

“In an event that took place this Thursday at the Government House, in Ushuaia, Melella questioned the President of the Nation Javier Milei, whom he accused of making a “ferocious adjustment” in the provinces “with the aim of showing through the media of Buenos Aires that lowers inflation.”

“In the run-up to the Milei call on May 25, in the extreme south of the country, the provincial leader, who is opposed to the libertarian government, was accompanied by the mayors of the three towns, Walter Vuoto (Ushuaia) , Daniel Harrington (Tolhuin) and Martín Pérez (Río Grande) who participated in the activity via Zoom.

“Provincial and national legislators, non-governmental organizations, social entities, unions and institutions also participated. In productive terms, Tierra del Fuego is the second gas basin in Argentina with a production of 20% for the provinces of the country that have the service.

“Discriminatory” gas rate increase

“On the table in the living room where Melella signed the presentation of the appeal for protection there were four folders with forms with thousands of signatures stamped by the neighbors that will be attached to the judicial document.

“This gas increase is clearly discriminatory towards our province. Just as people from Formosa have high electricity consumption because they need air conditioning to live, we Patagonians need gas as a substantial element for us. One can give discussion, but they have to be rational, equitable, elevated.” she stated.

“For this government, people do not matter but numbers matter,” Melella said, adding: “You cannot reach 5% inflation with more unemployed people, low consumption, an excessively brutal rate is deadly for the production of the province.” “Every model falls and breaks, it has to understand the interior of the country.”

“Likewise, the governor warned that today the Fuegian industry is producing less than the pandemic and that for tourism it has been “very expensive” in terms of dollars: “Hotel reservations are beginning to drop,” he said.

“The governor cited some examples, which added to the claims that were made in recent days in towns such as Tolhuin and Río Grande. In this case, he indicated that “a popular library paid about 8 thousand pesos and in the last bill they were charged 181 thousand pesos. Or a taxi stand that had a ticket from 35 thousand pesos to about 300 thousand pesos, if that is not an increase we are stupid,” he said.

“Complaint against Camuzzi

“Melella denounced “complicity between the national government and the Camuzzi company distributor. The president criticized the gas distribution company in the southern part of the country, whom he questioned for not having made any investment to improve the service to users, having to be the national and provincial State that had to face investments so that people can access gas through the network.

“We do not charge Camuzzi for land use or gross income so that they do not pass it on to the neighbors,” he revealed and anticipated that the State will charge him 48 million dollars that the company has in debt.”

“In that sense, the province’s Minister of Energy, Alejandro Aguirre, explained to Tiempo that at the public hearing on January 8 we said that we were going to protect ourselves from claiming the 48 million dollars that the province made in different provincial governments that They have been transferred for use by the company to transport and distribute gas in the province. We are studying it to make a corresponding claim.”

“Finally, the president referred to the situation of education “there is a lack of understanding from the national government, and that is a cascade because this adjustment affects us all. We see that there are provinces that have more and more problems because resources have become smaller, in this framework of ours regarding health, security and education where national governments are increasingly running away.”

“For his part, from the Capital city, Vuoto questioned the economic model proposed by the national government and asked Milei to “stop destroying everything that is put in front of him.” The camper criticized: “It is not that there are no resources for the middle class, but that the issue of the government is where it puts its resources. In the Basic Law that Congress is debating, we see that taxes are lowered for large businessmen in Argentina, it is the first time that there is such a transfer from the popular sectors to the wealthy sectors.”

“Meanwhile, from Río Grande, Pérez insisted: “The auto rate that our neighbors have received is unpayable, and that is a decision by the national government to fall with all the force on those who need it most” and “this initiative to “We must support the decision of the national government to stop it and that is why I celebrate it.”