Changes to procurement law to end Odebrecht love affair

CHANGES   to Panama’s Public Procurements  Act to disqualify companies that have been convicted of crimes outside of Panama, would effectively freeze the Odebrecht company,  out of future bidding.   

The scandal linked Brazilian construction giant,  whose president was recently jailed for nearly 20 years, has garnered $9 billion in contracts  from successive governments.

The current law extends disqualification only to companies or individuals convicted within Panama, but  Administration Prosecutor Rigoberto González  wants Bill 305, now in the National Assembly on first reading, to  expand the prohibition to “persons who, in the five years that precede the recruitment, have been declared responsible judicially for crimes  against public administration, money laundering or any other crime against economic order, terrorism, the financing of terrorism or any other crime against collective security, crimes against economic assets and crimes against public faith, with terms of imprisonment of one year or more.”

Similarly, the bill states that companies convicted in Panama “or any other state” have current contracts with the state be disqualified.

Therecommendations are included in a letter sent by González to National Assembly President Rubén De León, and Commission of Economy and Finance Chairman Miguel Salas.

The changes have been proposed because  Odebrecht, whose president is jailed for acts of corruption, can continue bidding on projects in Panama.

Odebrecht has been awarded with the two most important works tendered in the administration of Juan Carlos Varela: the second line of the Metro and the urban renewal of Colón, valued at over $2 billion.