maritime

ACP reveals data on contract issues

During 2007, the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) received 77 complaints about contracts awarded by the agency, said Executive Vice President of Human Resources of the ACP Francisco Loaiza. Of the 77 complaints, 37 were declared unfounded and 40 were resolved in favor of the complainant. The ACP awarded 14,996 contracts worth more than $300 million last year. While about 15,500 contracts were issued in 2006, they were for substantially less money, totalling just over $210 million.

In the past three years, the ACP has received 186 complaints, of which 103 were dismissed. The remainder were resolved in favor of the complainants.

These figures were presented to journalists at a seminar on transparency at the ACP. The seminar addressed issues such as the ethical conduct of employees, internal controls, procurement and disciplinary proceedings.