The replacement work, expansion of the sewerage and wastewater treatment plant in the population center of Prague, in Aipe, did not have adequate planning. “The Administration failed to even establish the dimension of the work,” said the judge. The irregularities led to the conviction of the mayoral candidate and former mayor, José Sevel Castro Tovar, and also the former president, Luis Felipe Conde Lasso.
Rafael Rodríguez C.
“On the budget page it includes only three columns: activities, unit and amount. An official budget is attached in which the values are detailed, but from its content one cannot have an idea of what the scope of the contract is…”, the judge sentenced in the sentence against the current candidate for the Mayor’s Office of Aipe and former president, José Sevel Castro Tovar and the former mayor Luis Felipe Conde Lasso.
The two former public officials ended up sentenced after a long process that was brought forward due to irregularities in the contract for the replacement and expansion of the sewage system and wastewater treatment plant in the town center of Prague, signed in 2008 with the temporary union Proicol.
The tender, for the award of the contract for $1,824,025,649.33, presented a pre-contractual flaw, due to not having carried out adequate planning prior to the opening, in addition to the fact that an exaggerated estimate of the population was made when for the time There were 630 inhabitants in the populated center and the Aipe Development Secretariat reports that the beneficiary population is 1,360 inhabitants, more than double.
“According to the probative elements related to the investigation, it is found that for the year 2005 the population was 625 inhabitants, being that of 2008 630 inhabitants, for which reason it is noted that -with the passage of time- the population tended rather to be reduced rather than increased”, said the Third Criminal Judge of the Neiva Circuit, Juan Carlos Bolaños Motta.
In addition, in development of the execution of the contract, an addition was presented for the amount of $2,114,556,916.58, $795,296,129.13 for additional work and $1,319,260,787.45 for greater amounts of work. “There was then an increase of more than 50% of the initially agreed value, a situation prohibited by the paragraph of article 40 of Law 80 of 1993,” said the robed man.
The defendants’ defense pointed out in the oral trial that the established 50% limit was not violated, while the Prosecutor’s Office stated that, “in any case”, the exaggerated increase in the value of the work accounts for a lack of planning.
“Little Administration activity”
The judge’s investigation and analysis of the documentary evidence revealed that there was no thoroughness in the previous studies, the technical description of how it will be executed, and the specifications. “It indicates the components of the system… just a brief definition, without indicating quantities or prices,” said the judicial operator.
In addition to the anomalies found, there were no specifications in the table of technical supports and designs for the contractor to execute. “It only states that the contractor must execute the items in accordance with the technical specifications (which does not indicate what they are there), that it must prepare the designs following the guidelines of the specifications (which does not indicate them either), that it must carry out the technical studies (but does not indicate which ones)…”, the judge maintained.
As if that were not enough, an official budget was attached detailing the values, but there is no idea of the scope of the contract. “We do not know how many meters of sewerage, how many families, how many streets, or -at least- a general description of the work that allows reviewing their scope and the analysis of the need for additional works or greater quantities” said the judicial operator.
He added that the careful analysis of the documents, the preliminary study, the budget, the specifications and the contract, allow us to conclude that before the contract “there was only a sketch of the work to be carried out, a general idea so poorly defined, that it was impossible to determine its contours, leaving all the planning weight to the same contractor of the work”.
He argued that the municipal administration did not do a detailed job in planning the work. “The activity of the Administration was so scarce that it was not even able to establish the dimension of the work. It was only with the studies resulting from the same contract, that it was possible to establish that the work required was greater, even with subsequent increases (not to mention additions or larger quantities), which suggested missteps that were inappropriate for state contracting”.
The judge assured that it is clear that, in addition to not having clarified the scope of the contractual object in the previous studies, nor in the specifications, new sections were contracted whose need does not appear clear. “Well, the scant explanation that was given in this regard in the corresponding acts only denotes the neglect of an issue as important as the proper planning of the contract.”
condemns
The irregularities found in the contract led the judge to declare the two former mayors, Luis Felipe Conde Lasso and José Sevel Castro Tovar, responsible for the crime of contract without compliance with legal requirements.
He sentenced them to the main sentence of 5 years and 4 months that they will comply with house arrest and ordered that they use electronic surveillance systems during the execution of the sentence, “as a substitute for prison.”
He also fined them 66.66 monthly legal minimum wages in force for the year 2008 ($30,763,590) and the accessory penalty of disqualification from the exercise of public rights and functions.
