Vice-president speaks out on Metro contract

RAIN IS FALLING on the celebrations of the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht which came out the winner in the bidding process for the construction of the second stage of the Panama Metro Subway.

 The company which seems to have a lock hold on major government construction projects, and criticism has been mounting since Thursday’s announcement.
ON Friday, May 15 Vic-President and Foreign Minister Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado today added her voice to the clamor over what seems to have been a foregone conclusion and asked for a review to the current public procurement law.
“The result of the selection process for building line 2 of the Metro is evidence of the need to revise procurement laws,” she through her Twitter account at 9:15 a.m.
An hour later, she backtracked somewhat.

“The selection process was serious and transparent. I recognize the capacity of the commission and the result. It is imperative to review the procurement act,”
she said.
The contract was awarded to Brazilian company Odebrecht and the Spanish company FCC with a bid of $1.857 billion.
Odebrecht has received $8.5 billion in contracts from the government dating back to the construction of phase one of the Cinta Costera under the Martin Torrijos administration.
There has been criticism of the absence of countries with long histories of subway construction , and the fact that Odebrecht is allegedly embroiled in a major corruption scandal in Brazil.