Complaint filed over Odebrecht Metro line 2 contract

THE SEEMINGLY permanent open door welcome for the Brazilian Construction giant Odebrecht which has garnered some $8 billion in contracts from successive Panama governments construction , got its first set back this week with the news that a complaint has been filed over The tender for line 2 of the Metro.

Representatives of the Panametro consortium of China Harbor Engineering Company, China Railway First Group and the Spanish Corsán-Corviam, filed a complaint with the Directorate General of Public Procurement. Representatives of the group confirmed to La Prensa that the move has been made but gave no details.
Metro de Panama reported that the Consortium made comments on the report of the evaluation committee yesterday afternoon, which will be reviewed by the entity.
There has been a groundswell of complaints about the procedure starting with a Twitter comment from Panama’s vice-president Isabel Saint Malo followed by a demand from the independent group Movinl for a review of the way contracts are awarded and on Monday suggestions of a conflict of interest for one of the members of the technical evaluation team. Who had been employed as an advisor to Odebrech t.
The specification of this tender allows the claim as a first resort, and a challenge requires an accompanying deposit of 15% of the economic proposal unhappy consortium.
In the case of Panametro Consortium, the bond would be $250 million, whereas the price offered in the tender was $ 1.667 million.
After nearly two months of evaluation, on Thursday May 14 the evaluation committee announced that the Line 2 Consortium (composed of Norberto Odebrecht, Brazil, and FCC Construction, SA, Spain) won the best rating with a total of 855.98 points .
His offer was $ 1.857 million and had the highest score in the technical part with 396 points from a maximum of 510.
In second place was the Panametro Consortium, with a total score of 770.33. This was the lowest economic proposal with $ 1.667 million, but lost in the technical qualification to with just 311 points.
The third place went to Panama II UTE consortium formed by the Spanish Dragados, Mexico’s ICA and Grana y Montero Peru. His offer was $ 2.076 million and obtained a technical note of 317 points. His total score was 736.98.
The requirement to submit a deposit of 15% of the amount of the proposal in the dispute process is interpreted by some employers as a constraint in the process, but for others it is a measure that prevents the tender to expand with unsubstantiated claims.
According to the specifications, the appeal may be filed by any proponent deemed aggrieved by a decision or other administrative act proposed or any other act that affects the objective selection of the concessionaire.
The appeal must be filed with the Administrative Court of Public Contracting, accompanied by evidence or formally announcing them at the time of the challenge.
“The appeal must be filed within five working days from the notification of the decision under challenge that will emerge in the devolution effect,” says the statement.