A report that was accessed Free Press reports that the previous administration of the Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing (CIV) scheduled the payment of Q326.6 million to more than a hundred companies from January to March. According to the documents, these suppliers carried out works in Covial, Caminos and the Social Solidarity Fund (FSS).
The report details the date of payment, the Unique Registration Voucher (CUR) number, the source of payment, the description of the work and the value of the disbursement. The contractors who worked for the General Directorate of Roads are those who received the highest payments for projects worked on.
When consulting the head of the portfolio, Jazmín de la Vega, who met with State contractors to publicize the new work methodology, regarding the amounts that have been paid for hauling works, the official only said that “no “I had the data” and did not want to delve into the subject. On the contrary, it was required that said information be requested through the Access to Public Information Unit.
At this meeting, De la Vega announced the findings found following a review of more than 1,400 contracts that are in force and the progress of these at the national level. The minister also explained to the contractors who responded to the request how they will work to award new events and assured that they will no longer accept “commissions” to expedite the payment of works as was done in previous administrations.
“We have learned that contractors were forced to pay to manage the works, I want to inform you that this has been completed. Here no one has to pay to manage payments, to manage works, all payments will be transparent,” said De la Vega.
But when asked who collected these commissions, the official responded: “They are no longer there, the financial heads have changed. The entire chain that received the estimates, we found lumps of estimates. So whoever came and if they paid her commission, they took her estimate and put it all the way up,” said the minister.
The venue for the meeting was the multipurpose room of the General Directorate of Roads in zone 13 of the capital, where dozens of contractors who have projects with the General Directorate of Roads, Covial and the Social Solidarity Fund, listened to the would be official. Although none of them wanted to speak or answer any questions.
Process
The official explained to the contractors that from now on they must adhere to the portfolio’s guidelines, among which are that: the works will be awarded through public and open bidding with the presence of the media as witnesses; Payments will be scheduled based on the field supervision carried out and that complies with the physical execution percentages to match the financial execution; In addition, they will not receive payments such as commissions to streamline payment management, which is why projects must meet the “required quality standards.”
Likewise, he announced that a so-called “Social Business Compensation” will be proposed to all contractors, with the intention of “improving the environment in the communities” with some community management works.
Findings
De la Vega stated that projects were found where the financial outlay was 90 percent, however, the physical progress was less, in addition to the fact that they found suspended works, such as schools built in places where there were no students.
The head of the Communications portfolio stated that they have managed to reach compensation with some companies that had works above the market price and with whom they reached agreements, such as, for example, providing more kilometers of signage to compensate for the difference in prices.
Findings
De la Vega stated that following arriving at the portfolio they found a series of irregular situations, such as processes where works were awarded through “express tenders”, of which some had a single participant or were done “almost in secret,” he added. that it was evident that contractors were forced to pay to have disbursements for works managed
#Authorities #Ministry #Communications #scheduled #payment #Q326 #million #contractors
