Unable to leave home due to the new coronavirus, without money because the Ministry of Sports has not paid him since last January, and with relatives with disabilities who depend on him, Juan Diego Atamaint, methodological coach of the Sports Federation of Morona Santiago, yesterday demanded the payment of his emoluments from the Ministry of Sports.
Atamaint told this newspaper that he survives on green bananas, a carbohydrate that is also the basis of the diet of Israel Vargas, karate coach of the Sports Federation of Santa Elena, who is also unpaid.
Yolima Paiz, technical methodological director of the Ecuadorian Sports Federation for People with Physical Disabilities, alerted about this irregularity, even revealing that she did not receive her salary for December 2019.
"The mayor of Morona, Franklin Galarza, helped me with food for this week because he knows that I have two brothers with disabilities, one bedridden, and he also helped my mother, but since then I have only been surviving on bananas," Atamaint told of his dramatic situation.
60 people from the Sports Federation of Morona Santiago are facing the crisis caused by the coronavirus without money, the coach said.
Vargas's situation is similar. "My mom has a farm and she helps us with some bananas since we ran out of rice and all the food. There is no money to even go to the pharmacy to buy what is necessary," he said.
According to Vargas, the Secretary of Sports, Andrea Sotomayor, is only "washing her hands" by saying that she has already submitted the documentation to the Ministry of Economy and Finance for payment, but "she does nothing".
In Santa Elena, he said, 32 people are owed, including technicians, coaches, and administrative staff.
Neither Atamaint nor Vargas ruled out taking another type of action together with the unpaid professionals from the Ministry of Sports, but instead appealed to the authorities to "be moved in their hearts," Vargas said, seeing that thousands of families in Ecuador are in a very critical situation.
While the state of emergency continues in the country, due to the health emergency of the coronavirus, professionals are waiting for the Ministry of Sports to help them with their emoluments in order to survive, says Vargas, who is the father of a girl.
Other Data
11 years in Santa Elena
Israel Vargas said that he has been working in Santa Elena for that time and that there has always been a delay in salary payment. "Sports has been mistreated by all governments," he said.
$12.7 million for the elite
The Ministry of Sports indicated that this amount will be invested in the High Performance Plan. "Hopefully a small portion is allocated to the federations," Juan Atamaint hoped. (D)