$200,000 feast to mark agreement on aiding the poor

[Moderator_03]

Quote

$200,000 feast to mark agreement on aiding the poor

Posted 16/12/2021

A  two-hour banquet at the Amador Convention  Center on November 30 to celebrate the delivery of the Bicentennial Pact”, aimed at aiding the disadvantaged cost Panamanian taxpayers nearly $200,000.

The menu included items unlikely to be included in the diets of Panama’s poor, like assorted sushi, salmon, shrimp tempura, crab meat, ceviche, Thai rice, beef slider canapes.

The banquet, hosted by President Laurentino  Cortizo was organized by the company Pompa SA, whose president is Carlos Mastellari. The company was hired directly by the Ministry of Culture, led by Carlos Aguilar.

The dinner cost the treasury $198,998 and 33 cents, according to data published in Panama Compra. With that money,  says La Prensa 1,666 poor people in the country could be helped with a $120 bond from Panama Solidario, the Government's emblematic program to serve the most vulnerable people in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pompa SA is the same company that organized the inauguration of Cortizo in July 2019, at a cost of $996,985.48.

Pompa SA was one of the companies that were part of the consortium of three companies that in 2015 won the tender for the decoration and catering of the Summit of the Americas events that took place in Atlapa, an event that cost $3.5 million and was led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, it was the one in charge of the decoration and dinner of the heads of state, foreign ministers, and other guests, who came to the inauguration of the Canal expansion in 2016. This event was also organized by the Foreign Ministry, and cost $ 352 thousand 498.

For the act of delivery of the report of the Bicentennial Pact, Cortizo's proposal to close social, political and economic gaps and establish a reform to the State, Pompa hired an ambulance service from Saturday, November 27 to Wednesday, November 1 December, that is until one day after the event. The service cost $1,700.

In order to contract directly with the company, and thus omit the public bidding process, the Ministry of Culture brought out number 1 of article 79 of Law 22 of 2006 on public contracting, which allows resorting to the exceptional procedure, when there is no other a bidder. In Panama there are dozens of companies dedicated to organizing events.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/200000-feast-to-mark-agreement-on-aiding-the-poor

[Moderator_03]

Quote

OPINION: widening and deepening the gap

Posted 16/12/2021

The feast organized by the Government to close the Bicentennial Pact is an example that what you do with your hands can be destroyed with your feet. It is incredible that the official who directly hired the caterer has seemed reasonable to spend almost $200,000 and on that when the Government must resort to credit to end the year since its bulky expenses are greater than its income. But the worst thing is the irony: the motto of the pact is "closing gaps", but it is this type of insensitive acts that make the gaps deepen and widen. A good part of the proposals presented in the pact have to do, precisely, with projects that can be financed with that money, but it is more important to enjoy a salmon with cream cheese, cheeses and olives. If we add the more than $900.000 in advertising contracted also directly in December 2020 to publicize the agreement, we have the formula to turn a good deed into an excuse to spend money by the handful. It is a shame that while many today will dine on rice with cold cuts, those few who promise to improve their living conditions delight their palates with imported food and food – LA PRENSA, Aug. 17

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-widening-and-deepening-the-gap