Failure to deliver health centers earns company extension

A SCANDAL plagued construction company has not completed five health centers due for delivery in July 2012 and has been given a fourth extension to deliver by December.

The news came 48 hours after President Ricardo Martinelli addressed the National Assembly lauding progress in health care as his greatest achievement

But it was the Ministry of Health (MoH) that on Tuesday. July 2 took the blame for the delays of the consortium IBT Group and gave another extension to deliver five primary Innovative Health Care Centers (MoH-Capsi).
Javier Díaz, Minister of Health, said that "the administration of former Minister Franklin Vergara fell behind in some payments to the company and so it was given a deadline of the end of year."
IBT Group has been involved in scandals, mainly faulty construction of hospitals in the Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic, through its subsidiaries Carimex, IBT and Riogersa, according to international media reports says La Prensa
In Panama the consortium was commissioned to build five health centers totaling $30.1 million. For delivery in July 2012,, recorded a backlog of over 50%.
In total the company has contracts in the health sector of $393.2 million, all under the administration of President Ricardo Martinelli.
The U.S. Cuban Rogelio Oruna is described as responsible for everything that happens in the IBT Group in Panama.
He is identified as "a person of confidence" of the President of Panama in the record of the international investigation into alleged corruption linked to Finmeccanica.