The Ministry of Finances has made available slightly more than 56 million escudos to compensate the 30 businesses whose products were consumed by the fire that destroyed cold storage company Interbase in September of last year. The payments represent the end of a twelve-month-long struggle that was mediated by the Windward Islands Chamber of Commerce.

The government, through the Ministry of Finances, this week liquidated the debts it incurred as a result of the fire, which destroyed tons of products that were stored in Interbase’s cold storage unit located in São Vicente sea port.

The negotiation process moved alternately forward and backward over the course of the past year. Immediately after the fire, dozens of businesses lodged claims for compensation payment from the State, which owns Interbase, and, given the delay in the response, threatened to take the Finance Ministry to court. However, in recent months the two sides managed to overcome their differences through dialogue, and the process came to a conclusion with the payment of compensation to 30 businesses. The total amount of the payments stood at 56,322,252 escudos.

The amounts to be paid determined by the Finance Ministry Inspection Department did not, in some cases, correspond to those presented by business owners, because, according to the Windward Islands Chamber of Commerce, the businesses made their calculations based on the sale price of their products, while the Inspection Department used the prices provided by suppliers. Even so, the businesses decided to accept the Inspection Department’s calculations as a way of bringing the process to a close.

Five businesses have yet to receive compensation payments as a result of problems determining the value of the goods destroyed.