Once again the complex and endless phenomenon of illegal street commerce took part in the Municipal Council session in Chillán yesterday.
Although, the levels of occupancy of public spaces have not reached the levels seen in other regional capitals such as Temuco where the Last Monday there was a real war against municipal inspection personnel and Carabineros; nor the degree of violence that has been observed in places like the Metropolitan Region, the phrase “you can no longer walk down the street” is heard recurrently in the commune.
Although The issue was brought up by Councilor Brígida Hormazábal as a result of the bureaucratic obstacles that some people were encountering to renew their permits. It was the communal chief himself, Camilo Benavente, who warned that, as is customary for Christmas Eve, They provide special permits for some city residents to raise money by wrapping gifts or providing similar services, “this year we received more than 200 permit requests,” he said.
He then made it clear that most of these requests will be rejected.
“We had already coordinated with the Community Development Directorate (Dideco) to determine which of those applicants meet the requirements to be able to access one of these permits and it is the minority that complies,” he warned.
The mayor refers to requirements such as having a certified address within the commune of Chillán, being chronic patients or being able to verify a situation of vulnerability.
“And of those over 200 applications, more than 80 people did not qualify, so that is the number of permits that we should deliver just for them to work in the days before Christmas,” he concluded.
Although these types of activities have not been the focus of complaints or any other type of conflict with the authorities or established commerce in recent years, the only thing that has been warned about it is that – as happened on the Eve of 2022 – It will be monitored that the beneficiaries only occupy the assigned spaces and offer the previously agreed products and services, since in previous years infringements of intellectual and industrial property were even detected, which from the Municipal Inspection was persistently controlled under the warning of losing permits to those who fail to comply.
Reduce precarious permits
As confirmed by the Municipal Revenue and Patents Directorate, in the commune there are approximately 200 precarious permits granted in total, and since previous administrations (currently none have been delivered) these are given a “green” rating. , yellow and red” depending on the personal and social conditions that warrant continuing to have these authorizations.
“And probably, between the yellow and the green, that is to say that they comply with the issue of domicile, with their social status and that they have demonstrated good behavior, plus other requirements, we should also be left with about 80 and the rest, It is simply not going to be given to them precarious,” commented the mayor.
Today, the Municipality admits that there is a need raised (strongly) by Carabineros, the Chamber of Commerce “and we have to start working on this regularization as soon as possible,” commented the mayor.
Although it is not the first time that these announcements to reduce street commerce have been made, “I appreciate that at least now, the mayor has made it public during the municipal council, we want an orderly and regulated center, because that is what the The community has been asking us for a long time,” commented Councilman Rodrigo Ramírez, president of the Municipal Council’s security commission.
While councilor Quenne Aitken warned that “what Carabineros has asked the municipalities is to be able to identify those who will have permits to be able to improve their inspection capacity and we must be clear, here we must be firm and act with a strong hand. and without the help of Carabineros that will not be possible, because we have witnessed the violence of some, especially those who sell cigarettes and medicines.”
