More than 9,000 jobs are in danger of being lost due to the protests, warned the well-known businessman, former president of Confiep and current departmental dean of Lima of the College of Engineers of Peru, Roque Benavides Ganoza during his participation in the Development Business Forum and investment to promote public and private investment.
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The activity took place at 10:30 a.m. in the Basadre auditorium of the Casa Andina Select Hotel, with the participation of representatives of some local businessmen, students and authorities from the Jorge Basadre Grohmann National University.
crash of the economy
In said conference, Benavides recalled that in addition to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Peruvian economy has been affected by social conflicts that have had a very harsh impact on estimated growth, even greater than the one that hit Germany after lose World War II.
He mentioned that more than 68,000 metric tons of copper were not produced in 2021 as a result of the constant blockades in the southern mining corridor, according to the Central Reserve Bank. And also that to date more than 400,000,000 dollars in copper exports have been lost due to the stoppage of the Las Bambas mine, according to the calculation of the National Society of Mining, Oil and Energy (SNMPE).
unemployment in sight
The Peruvian state has stopped receiving approximately 220,000,000 soles in income and all of this puts the well-being of thousands of families at risk, since more than 9,000 jobs could be lost as a result of these conflicts, lamented the former president of Confiep.
He stressed that it is urgent to have authorities capable of generating spaces for dialogue for the prevention and timely management of conflicts, as well as to guarantee respect for the rule of law, which is a fundamental pillar of any democracy.
no new projects
He said that after the Quellaveco project, in Moquegua, there is no other company that is betting on investing in the future in Peru, which is worrying because such activity cannot be maintained if there are no new investments.
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He questioned whether there is a lie in the discourse of the leaders and groups that oppose mining activity since on the one hand they say they are against the extraction of resources, but on the other they demand the execution of more works or benefit from them, without recognizing that it is thanks to the payment of taxes that are converted into canon that these projects can be financed.
“Water yes, mine too”
According to Benavides, claims of respect for the environment do not have to be separated from mining, since he is in favor of carrying out environmentally responsible projects. At the end of the event before the consultation of the press, he said that it is important that the resources generated from the subsoil are properly distributed by the State.
“The problem we have in Peru is that the company processes a mineral resource, pays its taxes, and when it comes to redistribution, the State is very inefficient, so people feel frustrated and say why it doesn’t reach me, well, it’s not my fault. of the company that paid its taxes if it is not the fault of the State that it does not manage to redistribute those resources”, emphasized.
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/EDTLIF2SOZHVXK5VMQEIGVRJYA.jpg "Roque Benavides: Peru stopped receiving S / 220 million due to social conflicts")
Southern and the Mesa de Candarave
Regarding the delay in the solution of social conflicts, as in the case of Southern in Candarave, he responded that there is a lot of inefficiency on the part of the Peruvian State that does not accompany the solution of its conflicts.
“The State has to act as a mediator, it is the faithful balance, the people have lost confidence in the State, it does not have the presence that it should have in the area where the conflicts are generated”, accused. It was the only activity in which the former Confiep representative in Tacna participated.
