Even though he Minister of the Interior, Vicente Tiburcioannounced that one of the government’s priorities is to provide police officers with pistols to improve their efficiency in the fight against crime, the acquisition process has been postponed.
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The General Office of Administration and Finance of the Ministry of the Interior (OGAF)informed the participating companies that the date of the bid has been postponed because the entity using the weapons, the Special Services Division of the National Police (DIVSEESP), required more time to evaluate the proposed models.
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It is about the purchase of 31,045 9×19 mm pistols. for US$22 millionan operation that has presented a series of setbacks since the process began in the Dina Boluarte regime and that continues in the current mandate of President José Jerí.
The change of date occurred supposedly because the PNP requested more days to evaluate the offers of pistols. Photo: The Republic
Calendar change
The head of the OGAF, Albino Nieto Cerpa, announced “the postponement of the stages of evaluation of offers and awarding of bids, which were scheduled to take place on November 21.
In the same resolution document, Albino Nieto points out that the change in the date of the opponent’s adjudication was due to the fact that, “through an official letter from the PNP Special Services Division (user area), requested an extension of the deadline to complete the technical review of the offers presented.”
However, the real The reason for the postponement would be a consequence of the complaints filed by some of the competing companies. before the Ministry of the Interior and the Comptroller’s Office.
The competing companies alleged that the OGAF had modified the process with the purpose of guiding the contracting in favor of the American firm SIG Sauer.
The Alleged irregular events were detected when the OGAF answered the questions of the bidding companies. The contestants realized that demands were being made that fit with SIG Sauer’s proposal.
The Italian firms Beretta and Tanfoglio, the Czech CZ, the Brazilian Taurus, and the Israeli IWI are part of the process.
“The technical bases are tailored to SIG Sauer. The direction (in favor of this company) is evident. The bases contain specific texts that only apply to SIG Sauer weapons,” states one of the written accusations.
“It is required to set up a workshop to extend the useful life of the 9x19mm SIG Sauer caliber pistols acquired by the PNP in 2015. This absurd requirement flatly excludes all other manufacturers, since no competitor can certify or provide SIG Sauer spare parts,” it is added.
A process with its own name
These events occurred during the brief management of Ronnie Matienzo Mendoza as head of the OGAFwho resigned after approving the purchase of a second-hand Antonov AN-74 aircraft for US$63.9 million, when its value was US$30 million in 2014. This case has not yet been resolved by the Jerí government. Matienzo was replaced by Albino Nieto.
The representative of one of the companies participating in the process, who asked to keep his identity confidential for obvious reasons, said that he did not rule out that the postponement of the bid could be a maneuver to benefit SIG Sauer.
“This postponement smells bad to me. The process has a series of irregularities and had to be annulled“, said.
“There was definitely a direction to favor SIG Sauer and they did it crudely prioritizing the construction of a maintenance workshop that was approved precisely by SIG Sauer. It’s like asking Toyota to repair Volkswagen vehicles. Crazy,” he added.
Other cases of alleged OGAF favoritism
● In the acquisition of 3,164 bulletproof vests for the PNP, the Comptroller’s Office warned in a report that the model offered by the Mexican company Armor Life Lab for S/7 million did not meet the technical requirements. But the Ministry did not care and signed the contract.
● The OGAF awarded the purchase of 56 multipurpose armored vehicles (4×4) to the Israeli firm Plasan Sasa for US$24 million, despite accusations of favoritism.
● The OGAF also modified the date on which it would award the contract for the purchase of 44 motor pumps or “rochabuses” for US$25 million.
