The Municipality of Quito issued a Resolution, which restricts the free movement of vehicles. Explores, as productive sector, is opposed to this since this restriction does not allow the economic reactivation of their industries. And reactivation is needed as sales have been reduced by $170 million until August 2020 and Ecuadorian flower cultivation has decreased by 17%.
Situation being aggravated
"We see that the Municipality of Quito does not present any type of 'economic reactivation' plan, the only thing it does is aggravate the situation. We have already been in paused for the last 6 months, so we need to continue producing, generating more jobs, and foreign exchange", says Alejandro Martinez, executive president of the association. "Although we are still in a delicate situation, we (the floriculture sector) continue making all the efforts to recover from the crisis, as well as other productive sectors in the country."
Major problems: Chaos on the road, new door to corruption
The vehicle restriction leads to two serious and major problems, Martinez explains. "Firstly more cars are going to be bought, as the restriction is based on the license plate number, which will worsen the mobility of the city even more. It would be real chaos. we will have Bogota traffic problems in a few months." And the second major problem is that it will open a new door to corruption, he points out. "The Municipality should not be asking for safe-conduct or restricting the mobility of the city. Moreover, it is not giving a good example to the rest of the country."
Affecting the flower industry
The restrictions, in turn, will affect the flower industry. "Our products come from Azuay, Tulcán, Cotopaxi (other provinces) and they have to enter to the city to get to the airport. We coordinate a specific amount of flower boxes for an airplane. For example, if we commit with 120 flower boxes, and then it only arrives 60 boxes, because a truck was stopped and could not make it to the airport in its way to Quito; the airline company would think twice to return to Ecuador and keep doing business with us."
"If we fail to the airlines, we would not accomplish our clients’ orders and we will break good relationships. If this happens, we cannot pay salaries or generate foreign exchange for the country. Flower means 57% to Quito Airport. Everything is a chain, we will not stop, we want to continue working and creating jobs."
Expoflores requests to derogate the “Resolución Nº60” presented by the Municipality of Quito, and also, they ask for a plan regarding the economic reactivation of their city. "The vehicle restriction won’t prevent COVID-19, we are adult people and we know how to take care of ourselves if we want to survive. We need tools, facilities, and help from our authorities, not to be detained."
For more information:
Expoflores
www.expoflores.com