Path clear for another Odebrecht contract

As anti-corruption prosecutors close in on a group of high profile beneficiaries of bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, the company has been left with a clear path to get yet another construction contract from Panama’s blinkered government.

The General Directorate of Public Procurement (DGCP)  has confirmed the actions of an evaluation committee and denied the claim that it had previously accepted in favor of the OHL / Mota Engil consortium in the bidding for the extension of Line 2 of the Panama Metro to Tocumen International Airport.

The consortium alleged that irregularities had been committed in the appointment of the members of the evaluation committee and also that the Línea 2 Ramal Consortium, made up of the Spanish FCC and the Brazilian Odebrecht, did not comply with the financial requirements.

In its analysis, the DGCP determined that the Panama Metro did not commit any fault in the appointment of the members of the commission and concluded that there was no error in the letter from the UBS bank which said that it would contribute 85% of the financing of the work.

FCC and Odebrecht had bid $ 102.9 million, while OHL / Mota Engil proposed $100.9 million. The third proposal of the Spanish company Acciona Construction was $111.3 million.

The Line 2 Ramal Consortium received a technical score of 908 points, surpassing the 887 points of the Spanish Luso group.