“Right now everything for businesses is bad, there is much uncertainty and the situation is not improving,” lamented the president of the Petita i Mitjana Empresa d’Ibiza i Formentera (Pimeef), Alfonso Rojo, who said that “the worst news we could have received is that large employers, such as Fenadismer” seconded the strike. “Although from Pimeef we support the requests of the self-employed, this greatly affects the country’s economy“, so he predicts “problems in the supply of absolutely everything”.
For the time being, Rojo pointed out that fresh produce is guaranteed. In fact, he said that “more than 80% of what was expected is arriving, with fish being the most affected”. As for vegetables, he pointed out that “almost all the orders are being received and there is also a good supply of meat”. But he stressed that this could change from one day to the next.
“Today [yesterday] we are loading on the peninsula and, for example, the ship from Valencia has come practically full of trucks with all kinds of goods,” he stressed. Although, he added, that does not mean with the quantities required. “If we are talking about construction material, things are arriving, but not everything that is expected”, he indicated.
Businesses will need to take risks
Rojo also recalled that the transport stoppages have a direct impact on the businesses’ workforces. Less than ten days before the engines are started to begin the season, he said that “employers are at a dead end”.
In this sense, he pointed out that “businesses will have to take the risk of hiring”, although there is no guaranteed work. “On April 1st, the workforces of almost all the sectors of the islands should be at 70-80%, but right now, a week and a half away, we are working blind,” he lamented. Although there are distribution and hotel companies that have already been incorporating professionals, there are others, mainly related to food services, which “have only agreed on hiring,” he said.
Rojo insisted that, for the moment, the activity is not stalled and stressed that there are other factors, such as the storm, which are heavily affecting the supply of goods for several days. “It is turning our operations upside down and we are experiencing delays of more than four hours”, he explained.
However, the president of Pimeef is confident that the sector will reach an agreement with the Government to return to “normality” as soon as possible.
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