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.
A new law initiative pretends to forbid the participation of companies that have been convicted in other countries for crimes against the public administration in contracts with the State.
The bill that was presented on January 23, requests the modification of texts in the legal framework that regulate Panamanian public procurement, to avoid awarding contracts to companies that are accused of acts of corruption in Panama and also abroad.
In the Legislative Assembly a bill is being discussed that would allow for hiring done by government entities not to require the endorsement of the Comptroller General of the Republic.
Bill 20.202 is an initiative of the General Comptroller of the Republic, which put forward a proposal with the aim of reducing the time and the bureaucracy involved in the review and subsequent endorsement of each contract.
The Social Security Fund will be able to extend the contract for hemodialysis services and ensure coverage until October 2018.
The Cabinet Council has authorized the Social Security Fund (CSS) to make an addendum to the contract for the hemodialysis service, in order to guarantee the service until October next year.
Amid the controversy over corruption cases revealed by the Public Ministry, the Morales administration has announced that it will liquidate contracts and take over several highway construction and maintenance projects.
A government issued decree of a State of Public Calamity on the roads will have a term of 30 days, during which period the Morales administration plans to take over control and execution of several of the works that are underway.Without indicating how much will be invested in the process, the Executive explained that it will buy machinery and equipment to carry out repairs and construction of roads.The Ministry of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing will be in charge, with the support of the Ministry of National Defense.
At the request of the private sector, selection of the management company for the convention center will be done directly and not through a tender.
The National Tourism Council (CNT) is the institution that will select the company that will be in charge of managing the convention center that is under construction in the Amador Causeway. According to authorities at the CNT, it was the same entrepreneurs who raised the need to avoid a tender process and instead award the contract directly.
Between January and December hiring by the private sector went up by 5% compared to the previous year, driven by fixed term contracts, which grew by almost 9%.
Figures from the Ministry of Labor and Workforce Development (Mitradel) show that in 2016 290,367 new contracts were signed, of which 114,553 were for fixed term contracts, 81,265 were permanent contracts and the rest were for specific works.
The public sector felt to be the most corrupt is still Nicaragua (transparency level 26 on a scale from 0 to 100), followed by Guatemala (28), Honduras (30), El Salvador (36), Panama (38) and Costa Rica (58).
In 2016 the perception of corruption in public institutions increased in all Central American countries except Guatemala, where it remained as in 2015 and in Costa Rica, where it fell.
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 revelation that the brazilian construction company paid nearly $60 million in bribes in Panama is a clear wake-up call to society and the private sector, which must demand transparency in government procurement processes.
EDITORIAL
When a company bribes government officials to win public works contracts not only does it cause serious damage to that country's institutions, but it also damages economic development and the performance of private companies who do operate within the framework of the law, paying taxes and complying with the law.
From October 28th amendments to the Law on Government Procurement, come into effect, including the concept of open contracts and ERAs.
The decree published in Diaro de Central America indicates that "...The reforms include a total of 25 items. The first of these states that in the process of acquisitions made with resources from external loans originating from public credit operations or donations to the State, its agencies, institutions or municipal councils, policies and established procedures will apply to financial agencies or donors, considering these provisions as a special rule."
There is a striking difference between the offers received by the Ministry of Finance in Costa Rica, in a competition which was held exclusively between state entities in order to avoid mandatory controls on public procurements.
EDITORIAL
In Costa Rica, there is a new phenomenon not seen before: the illogical is no longer surprising, and, what is worse, the unexplainable is accepted as normal.
President Varela signaled the need to include medicine purchases in the law, among other objections, and did not make mention of the debarment of companies with foreign convictions for corruption.
The main objection put forward by various social groups to the new law on state procurement is that it does not establish the exclusion of businesses convicted abroad for corruption from being state providers, andthese groups have asked President Varela to veto the law for that reason .The president vetoed 8 articles of the law, but did not say anything in his observations about that particular topic.
The much awaited regulation on the Law on Government Procurement determines the process for ERAs, and sets out a methodology for reference prices.
On June 24 the regulations for the amended Law on Government Procurement will come into effect, establishing, among other things, how negotiations should be conducted, a definition for the information system for Contracting and Procurements, and procedures to be followed when setting reference prices in tenders.
The Tourism Authority of Panama will directly hire an advertising agency to develop two years of international promotion campaigns.
The head of the entity, Gustavo Him, told Prensa.com that "... the call began last week and they expect to receive six proposals in the month of May." The decision not to invite tenders and make a direct hire was made by the National Tourism Council, who came to this conclusion because of the delays that occurred in the process of defining the tender.
español
6505
