Cloud hangs over carnival as contracts suspended

With less than a week before the celebration of the carnival organized by the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP),  irregularities have been found in the processes to grant a series of direct contracts and five have been suspended.

The Directorate of Exceptional Procurement Procedures (DIPEC) has denied f the contracts due to lack of documentation from the bidders for the organization of the carnival in the capital. The direct contracts for the publicity of the festivity, the contract of the cisterns for the culecos, the construction of the throne and platforms, as well as the making of the dresses of the queen and princesses are suspended.

One of the companies questioned is Servicios Integrales Ancor, which was awarded a $210,000 contract to promote carnivals through Instagram and radio spots. This company was sued last Friday before the General Directorate of Public Contracts (DGCP).

In the denial of the DIPEC –published on the PanamaCompra government portal– it is observed that the ATP would not have complied with the exceptional procedure request process in favor of Servicios Integrales Ancor either. This, despite the fact that on January 25, the administrator of the ATP, Iván Eskildsen, asked the State Communications Secretariat for “the approval and approval” so that, of the total contract for $210,000, in favor of Servicios Integrales Ancor, $24 000 would be used for the promotion of the carnival.

Eskildsen made thie request seven days before Servicios Integrales Ancor sent him its proposal. Questioned about this anomaly, the official indicated that the proposals arrived in January, but that many of them “underwent adjustments”, without detailing what he was referring to.

The DIPEC also warned that Servicios Integrales Ancor would not have delivered the documentation stating that it has no legal incapacity to contract with the State.

An investigation by La Prensa detected the company is suspended in the Public Registry.  Eskildsen justified the hiring by indicating that “the company complies with the requirements that were demanded in the exceptional procedure.”

 On Friday, February 9, the company Hei, Events and More, filed a complaint against the contract with the DGCP.

The legal representative, Cecilia Arosemena, affirmed that the ATP “violated her right” to obtain the contract to provide her services in carnival activities, despite the fact that she delivered its proposal in early January.

The ATP is questioned because it would not have fulfilled its mission to investigate that the company was suspended in the Public Registry The complainant questions that the ATP did not start hiring the companies in time, although the announcement that there would be carnivals in 2023 was made by President Cortizo at the end of September two and three months before the ATP began to receive proposals.