Some 36 million dinars (MTD) have been allocated to date to compensate 459 affected businesses, from a total of 664 submissions to the Compensation Committee.
The compensation was made at 40% of the damage caused to businesses, as a result of the riots and vandalism that accompanied the Revolution of January 14.
The rest of the companies have not received any compensation, since they do not meet the criteria set by the new law (occurrence of damage between December 17, 2010 and February 28, 2011, tax return in 2010 turnover of more than 30 thousand dinars …).
“This figure is significant, despite the delay recorded in the promulgation of the law governing compensation for affected businesses during the revolution,” Mr. Fethi Dridi, head of the industry department at the UTICA (Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts), told TAP.
He explained the delay by complex procedures (expertise, second expert opinion…), which required the creation of a committee overseen by “Tunis Re” (Tunisian reinsurance) Company, which is responsible for releasing the amounts of compensation.
He said the amount of compensation can range from 3,000 to 500,000 dinars for a single company, usually belonging to the category of SMEs.
The breakdown of companies’ compensation reveals that in the agriculture sector, from 176 files submitted to the Committee, 137 were approved for a total of 7.934 MTD, 10 were turned down and the rest undergoing second expert opinion.
In the area of trade, from 279 folders, 137 companies were compensated for a total of 13.617 MTD.
For industry, 57 companies were compensated with a budget of 10.869 MTD from a total of 115 files reviewed.
In services, from 94 files reviewed, 60 were approved for a total of 3 MTD.
