Arguing that the requirements established by law to issue a license were not met, the authorities in Guatemala decided to suspend the environmental permit for the Rocja Pontila Central hydroelectric project.
An appeal of disagreement filed by Mayoreo de Computación S.A. was rejected after the Guatemalan authorities dismissed its proposal, the only one presented in the contest.
A few days ago the Qualifying Board of the tender informed that it was resolved to reject the offer presented by Mayoreo de Computación S.A.
Because the proposal submitted by Mayoreo de Computacion S.A. does not comply with some of the formalities required, in Guatemala decided to discard the only bid submitted in the tender for the service of issuing licenses to drive vehicles.
The company, which has been in charge of providing the service for 20 years and whose commercial name is Maycom, was the only one that presented its offer at the public ceremony, which totaled Q857 million ($111 million), but derived from some errors found in the documents, the authorities disqualified the proposal.
Mayoreo de Computacion S.A. was the only company that submitted its proposal in the tender for the service of issuing licenses to drive vehicles, for the 84-month term.
According to official documentation, the company that for 20 years has overseen providing the service and whose commercial name is Maycom, was the only one that presented its offer at the public ceremony, which totaled Q857 million ($111 million).
In Guatemala, a tender is being launched for licensing and updating rights to create content for interactive learning courses, design and layout of printed and digital publications.
In Guatemala, the builders' union and the government signed an agreement to work on simplifying and reducing procedures required to obtain a construction license.
The Guatemalan Chamber of Construction (CGC) and the Ministry of Economy (Mineco), have signed an agreement for institutions working in the process of issuing licenses, to work together in order to reduce the existing bureaucracy.
A ruling by the Guatemalan Supreme Court has granted an action for infringement of fundamental rights and freedoms in favor of the environmental group that claimed there was a lack of consultation with the local community, but the ruling does allow the mining company to resume work.
The condition is that the Ministry of Energy and Mines must carry out the community consultation established by ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous Peoples.Licenses to operate the mine were suspended in early July. See: "Another Mining Company Suspended in Guatemala"
From January 10 there will be a rise in the fees for operating licenses for extracting construction materials, precious stones and semiprecious stones and other materials.
Arguing that the charges that have been in effect up until now"do not allow the state to comply with the policies and plans of the government, for the mining sector,"the Ministry of Energy and Mines has made changes to the the fees for mining licenses.
Now, in addition, an inquiry must be made at the National Committee of Protected Areas to determine if a construction project is within a protected sector.
The headache of getting a constructionlicense in Guatemala will get worse now that a new process has been added to the list. In addition to the 13 agencies that must "rule " whether or not a permission can be granted, Government Agreement 20-2016 by the Ministry of Environment, establishes in Article 13 a new requirement for the construction sector: a consultation with the National Committee on Protected areas (CONAP), said Jorge Benavides, research associate of the Foundation for the Development of Guatemala to Republica.gt.
The new head of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources believes it is illogical to reduce the cost of an environmental permit from $3,000 to $6 per, which would be applied with the entry into force of a new regulation in May.
Government Agreement 20-2016 published on January 12 in the official newspaper, La Gaceta, makes official the new rules for granting environmental licenses that will apply from May. However, both the current Minister of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), Sydney Samuels, as well as the head of the UNE opposition party Orlando Blanco, are seeking its repeal believing that the cost of the licenses is very low.
Employers are demanding a one-stop shop service for issuing building permits, in order to avoid the ordeal of visiting 18 state institutions, and also the streamlining of tax collection.
Guatemala ranks 106 in the world in terms of ease of obtaining building permits, according to the World Bank.
The decline in global prices is the main reason behind the abandonment of several areas on the part of concessionaires, added to which is confusion around the mining moratorium.
Guatemala went from extracting 9 million barrels of oil in 2003 (a daily average of 24 thousand barrels) to just 3 million in 2015 (10 thousand barrels per day), recording a drop in production of 59.4% in twelve years. Factors such as the rapid decline in oil prices, lack of implementation of contracts and lack of transparency continue to affect the competitiveness of companies interested in investing in exploration and exploitation.
Quattro Exploration and Production has made an agreement with GFI Petroleum Guatemala to acquire a license for the operation of block 6-2012 block, consisting of 34,723 hectares in the South Peten basin.
From the press release by QUATTRO Exploration and Production:
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