Moderators Moderator_02 Posted December 30, 2019 Moderators Share Posted December 30, 2019 Quote OPINION: Crime pays in Panama construction industry Posted 29/12/2019 From the disclosure that the Ministry of Public Works makes on the contratistavisible.com portal, important data on Panamanian public procurement are inferred. Thus we see that nine companies have received a third of all MOP projects in recent years. Among the leading construction companies, the names of FCC, Odebrecht, MECO, Bagatrac, and Rodsa stand out, all of whom have recognized their participation in corruption schemes. As if this were not enough, the MOP is in the process of renegotiating the fourth bridge over the Panama Canal, with a Chinese consortium that was also excluded from contracting by multilateral banks, due to its questionable practices. All this happens because the Panamanian public procurement regime allows it. It is enough for a company to recognize that it paid the bribe, accept the fine and submit some information, so they can continue hiring. This is actually a reward for the most corrupt. The situation of the MOP is repeated in other institutions of the State such as the Panama Metro, the Social Security Fund, Tocumen SA, Etesa and a long rosary of entities that should set an example to society, that crime does not pay.-LA PRENSA,Dec. 29 https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/opinion-crime-pays-in-panama-construction-industry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_02 Posted December 30, 2019 Author Moderators Share Posted December 30, 2019 Quote Fourth bridge consortium among dubious background contractors Posted 29/12/2019 The list of the principal contractors of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) includes companies that have admitted before the local authorities of their respective countries that they paid bribes in Panama, during the five years of the Ricardo Martinelli administration, 2009 -2014. Among the companies that have important contracts with the MOP, according to the Visible Contractor portal, are the Costa Rican Meco, the Spanish FCC Construcción, the Brazilian Odebrecht, and the Panamanians Bagatrac and Rodsa, linked to different cases in Panama. The company that executes the project of the fourth bridge over the Panama Canal, the most important awarded by the MOP, with a value of $ 1,518 billion, was disabled between 2011 and 2017 by the World Bank for a case linked to a project in the Philippines. Meanwhile, the project to reform the Public Procurement Law, which could include the inability to hire corrupt companies, has not advanced in the Assembly reports La Prensa. https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/fourth-bridge-consortium-among-dubious-background-contractors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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