national

Changes made to contracting process

Under a measure passed July 10, fewer items will have to be put out to public bid.

The Asamblea and the Executive branch will be able to directly award many more contracts.

LA PRENSA

empowered: Martín Torrijos (left) and Pedro Miguel González (bottom right) worked together to expand their powers to directly award public contracts. Also pictured is Transmóvil Coordinator Leonel Solís (top right), who will be allowed to directly negotiate a compensation package with bus operators. 1063013

Of the powers recently granted to the Executive branch by the Asamblea Nacional, one approved with little fanfare earlier this month will have a substantial impact on how the government does business.

On July 10, the Asamblea voted to allow the government to sign contracts with independent consultants worth up to $300,000 without publicly bidding the proposals. It also allows the government to directly award water or electricity contracts deemed urgent or in the social benefit.

The secretario de Energía, Dani Kuzniecky, said he was not aware of the change.

“It would be interesting to know what the reason for the change was,” he said, adding that contractors will still be required to submit a bid for work under his institution’s management until he is told differently.

The changes also allow the Asamblea Nacional, including individual legislators, to award contracts of up to $50,000 without a formal tender.

“These changes undermine all the reforms that were passed to strengthen transparency,” said Angélica Maytín Justiniani, executive president of the Panama chapter of Transparencia Internacional.

Economist Frank de Lima said the measure appears to benefit both the Executive branch and the Asamblea Nacional, as both entities are now free to hand out potentially lucrative contracts without public scrutiny. De Lima said that allowing the Asamblea Nacional to avoid the tendering process was akin to handing its leaders pieces of candy to get them to support the measure.

Earlier, the Executive branch was granted the authority to directly purchase equipment for the country's security forces without going through the tender process.

Also included in the measure was a provision that would allow the coordinator of the Transmóvil public transportation plant to negotiate a compensation package with bus operators. This deal, which is expected to cost the government millions, will not need approval from top cabinet economic officials.

This change was one of the many that have been proposed to the country’s security agencies. These changes include adding an independent border patrol, a security agency to the Immigration department and changing the administration of the police investigative unit.

President Martín Torrijos and other government officials have defended the changes as being necessary to combat the country’s crime problem. Critics, however, say that the changes are reminiscent of the laws that were in place during the military dictatorship.