In Guatemala, President Alejandro Giammattei decided to veto the reforms to the Contracting Law and announced that the bill will be returned to Congress with the respective observations.
According to Giammattei, the observations consist in the fact that the reforms to the Contracting Law should only apply to the purchases made by the Municipalities and not to the bids made by the institutions of the Executive.
Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (Costa Rican Social Security Fund ) is bidding for the supply of digital transportable X-ray equipment on a delivery-on-demand basis.
Costa Rican Government Purchase 2021LN-000001-3110:
"Comprises the provision of the medical equipment Digital Transportable X-Ray, accessories, complementary medical equipment, installation, operation tests and trainings.
The Municipality of Mixco, department of Guatemala, is bidding for the construction of a higher education center to be located in the sector of Monserrat II.
Guatemala Government Purchase 13488821:
"The contractor must define the exact location of the works, on the land assigned for that purpose, according to the indications of the resident supervisor, and plans, all the replacements will be made by the contractor, according to the methods proposed by him and approved by the resident supervisor.
Costa Rican businessmen support efforts to avoid changes to the bill being discussed in the Legislative Assembly, which originally seeks to stop abuses in hiring directly by public entities.
For the business sector in Costa Rica, the large number of direct contracts between state institutions implies a number of defects and abuses in the use of public funds.
The employers' guild is of the opinion that in direct contracting there is no guarantee that the best use is actually being made of public funds, and there are indications of a lack of transparency in contracts. Some of them have even been declared confidential.
The bill being analyzed in the Congress of Guatemala seeks to regulate direct purchases, quotations, bids, reverse auction and, specifically, contracts granted in times of national emergency or urgency.
From a statement issued by the Congress of Guatemala:
Representatives from the Transparency and Probity Commission concluded the preparation of the preliminary draft of "general and integrating law of the national procurement system of the State", with the purpose of creating a new tool that allows resources to be executed in a fluid, transparent and safe manner.
The Social Security Fund in Panama will allocate the amount to the purchase of supplies, reagents, calibrators, controllers and analyzers for clinical laboratory tests.
Laestrella.com.pa reports that "...This authorization of the expense includes three lines, with each one containing innumerable laboratory tests and that must be supplied for a period of four years, informed the National Logistics Office.Among the inputs included in this acquisition are those for: hepatitis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, hemoglobin."
An investigation has been launched into four contracts for $6.5 million awarded directly by the Public Ministry to three companies supplying ammunition, grenades and police uniforms.
The companies that obtained the contracts are Max Gear Inc., Mil Spec International Corp, and Inmunex. The National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Antai) is investigating the contracts, since they may have been granted without a public tender process having been held beforehand.
President Solís has ordered ministers to suspend all tender processes for vehicles, equipment and supplies, rental of buildings and consultancies that have not yet started.
In the case of contract processes that are already underway, it will be up to head of each Ministry to decide whether to suspend them or consider them indispensable for the operation of the Ministry.
In 2016 the number of companies that sold goods and services to government institutions grew almost three times compared to 2015.
From the report "V Status Report on the SME Situation in 2016":
The V Status Report on the SME Situation in 2016 in Costa Rica indicates that sales to the state by companies that are registered in the Costa Rican Business Information System (SIEC), increased their share by 11.9%; which implies that the number of companies that sell to the state increased by 285 compared to 2015.
In the past five years direct contracting on the part of the State has increased by 90%, undermining fair competition between suppliers and adequate transparency in the use of public resources.
As the Comptroller General of the Republic points out, although the option to use the mechanism of direct purchase rather than holding a tender is legal, state entities should not abuse its use, as they have been doing in recent years.
The Ministry of Public Works will be awarding a direct contract for dredging of rivers, and construction of embankments, bracing, and retaining walls with gabions system.
From a statement issued by the Presidency of Panama:
Panama, November 30, 2016.In order to address the effects of the floods caused by Tropical Storm Otto, the Cabinet declared a state of emergency in the country and authorized contracts needed to deal with the emergency up to the amount of 10 million dollars.
The aim of the law reform is to increase direct purchases in state institutions when the amounts are greater than $3,000 and less than $11,000.
From a statement issued by the Congress of Guatemala:
With the aim of enabling the implementation of the State budget, members of Congress approved Decree 46-2016, through which the State Procurement Law was amended.
The private sector has denounced the "clear abuse on the part of the state by forcing all agencies and public companies to make contracts with each other."
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations in the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP):
October, 2016.The Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations in the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP), complained to the Commission to Promote Competition (COPROCOM) that the Costa Rican government is using monopolistic practices.