The Administrative Court of Public Procurement (TACP) rejected the appeal filed by the Bayano consortium against the award order issued by the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) for the construction of a vehicular bridge over the Bayano River in the Coquira port sector.
The Bayano consortium made up of the Costa Rican Meco and its Panamanian subsidiary presented the lowest price (22.7 million dollars), but its offer was disqualified, after two of the three members of the evaluation commission estimated that it did not meet the requirements of financing requested in the specifications.
Being a “turnkey” project, the contractor must provide the funds to execute the project and then the State cancels the debt after receiving the work satisfactorily.
In its analysis, the TACP validated what was done by the evaluation commission and considered that Meco did not comply with what was requested in the specifications.
“By reviewing the wording of the financing intention note signed by Mercantil Bancos SA, it clearly generates unwanted responsibilities for the dealers, even before the final contract is signed,” the Court concluded.
When Meco’s offer was ruled out, the MOP’s order went in favor of the company Ingeniería y Tecnología Especializada, SA (Itecpa), which offered 22.8 million dollars.
As part of her argument, Meco indicated that the president of the evaluation commission did not agree with the invalidation of her financing letter, but the Court commented that the commissioner did not object to the documents presented by the other competitors.
In the award order signed by the MOP minister, Rafael Sabonge, the official indicates that the institution, like the evaluation commission, acted within the guidelines of the public contracting law.
