Bribery reports throw cloud over fourth bridge contract

THE  START date for the fourth bridge over the Panama Canal has become a movable object since President Juan Carlos Varela forecast in October last year that preliminary work would begin in March 2018.

Still in the golden glow of Panama’s honeymoon with China, he was blue-skying about a high-speed rail connection to David and other benefits of the trade marriage between the two countries.

Meanwhile, the bidding process for the $1.5 billion bridge project, to speed road and rail connections with the interior was faltering. After repeated presentations, the technical team assigned to managing the bids was disbanded. Without any clear explanation and a new one installed.

When the bids were opened, the consortium that made the lowest bid was ruled out as “too risky,” raising concerns among many observers that the higher offers could include kickbacks and the award to a Chinese consortium named “Panama Fouth Bridge” drew a storm of criticism.

Now it has been revealed that CHEC  a member of the consortium in line for the contract reportedly has a long record of alleged bribery and mismanagement.

International media have reported bribes in Bangladesh, breach of contract in Costa Rica, pollution in Mexico, and that its Chinese parent company Communications Construction Company was until 2017 on the World Bank list of companies ineligible for financing World for fraudulent practices in the Philippines.

The president of the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects (SPIA), Gustavo Bernal, says that the government would be in time to correct the award.

“It is an issue that goes beyond the offers presented, in our opinion should be considered  by both the Comptroller General and  the Directorate of Public Procurement because you have to verify and if there is a company within the group with a history that does not agree with our regulations it must be dismissed”Bernal said.

Others voiced concerns to TVN News that there was a “secret pact”  When President Varela went to China.

TVN News reported that on Wednesday, July 4 the Korean consortium Astaldi-Daelim, filed a complaint against the report of the evaluation commission. The Ministry of Public Works (MOP) said: “The claim is an unfounded action on the part of said Consortium, which we will be answering with the assurance that the entire process was transparent and legitimate. “

They ensured  that they requested “information from the corresponding entities,  and in the Ministry there is no formal documentation on the cases cited against the  China Harbor company

The ministry notes that the Sacyr and Odebrecht companies withdrew from the tender. Both are International companies

Internationals who received multi-billion dollar state contracts in Panama despite having turbid histories of cost overruns and other irregularities in their projects in other countries.

Coincidentally, reports TVN.  CHEC is part of a consortium for the construction of a cruise terminal in Amador together with Jan De Nul, a company that was part of Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) together with Sacyr for the canal expansion of the interoceanic road.