Page Seven / La Paz
The Government and the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) assured that the personnel that controls the airports is qualified and that operational safety is guaranteed, while at the same time they described the complaints of the controller who spent 17 hours in Viru Viru as a smear campaign .
“The safety of air transport is guaranteed, because in Bolivian Air Navigation and Airports (Naabol) we have hired experienced personnel who were part of the former Aasana,” said the Minister of Public Works, Édgar Montaño.
The former employees of the Airport Administration and Auxiliary Services to Air Navigation (Aasana) maintain the hunger strike against the creation of Naabol.
Montaño reported that all air transport control is in the hands of professional people with several years of experience. “We have nothing to hide, what’s more, Bolivia now has a better national and international rating. Air transport is in safe and experienced hands ”, he clarified.
As an example, he showed the resumes of the Naabol regional authorities.
In the Cochabamba region, José Antonio Rojas Terán was hired, a professional with 40 years of experience in airport administration. In La Paz he joined Gleison Gutiérrez, with 17 years of experience, and in Santa Cruz Carlos Molina Campell, with 37 years of experience in Aasana.
“They are all former employees or workers of Aasana. No new staff has been hired yet, ”Montaño said.
The authority assured that the complaint by the air traffic controller of the Viru Viru Airport Fabiola Pereira is “part of a plot” by Aasana officials.
“We sent an official to replace those who carried out precisely the plot. This plot was designed so that each one simulates going to the bathroom and, later, the same workers who are claiming them kidnap them and can no longer enter their source of work. This lady is part of the plot, Mrs. Fabiola Pereira ”, asserted Montaño.
The controller said that they pressured her and threatened to take her to jail and lose her job. His colleagues denounced that DGAC officials took their duties.
Montaño questioned that the controller earns more than 10,000 Bolivians with basic income and overtime and that in 2020 it would have worked 24 hours to obtain those salaries.
“If he could work 24 hours and now only 17 hours, why did he get tachycardia? Now it turns out that when they declare unemployment, it is the victim. She is part of the plot that they wanted to make so that the airports do not work normally ”, he criticized.
The director of the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC), Celier Arispe, indicated that the air traffic officer did not work 17 hours as reported, but 12.
He explained that there is a contingency plan to guarantee security and operations and that it is activated immediately in the event of any eventuality.
The leader of the former Aasana workers, Néstor Villarroel, regretted the statements of Minister Montaño, who after making Aasana disappear and leaving more than 700 workers on the street calls on the controller Pereira instead of thanking them for their service.
She added that she was forced to remain in her post with the military because there was no replacement and now the Government has turned to former officials from the DGAC and other regional governments.
He assured that wages and overtime at Aasana are legal because they are the rights recognized by the Labor Law and they worked like that for 54 years.
“The hunger strike continues and the intermediate airports and the Trompillo do not operate,” he stressed.
They still have not reached agreements in Santa Cruz
“With the only ones that I need to close an act of commitment and employment contracts are the former workers of Santa Cruz. I am going to invite you to a meeting again, I will be in Santa Cruz to meet and talk, “he said.
According to Montaño, more than 200 officials from the former Aasana automatically went to the new company and there is a list of 150 additional workers with whom it is expected to arrange.
“It is a list that was passed to me, but it will surely increase. There is security at the airports, they work normally and with former Aasana employees and with extensive experience ”, the authority highlighted. Naabol operates in place of Aasana since December 1 of this year.
