Panama, July 19, 2024. Excessive payroll, duplicate checks, and significant accounts payable were some of the irregularities that the new authorities found in the Ministry of Housing and Land Management (Miviot) at the beginning of their term.
The head of Housing Jaime A. Jované C. indicated that the payroll as of June 30, 2024 was 4,283 officials, which as of July 3, was reduced to 1,530 collaborators, that is, there was an excess of 2,753 workers.
“In this Ministry, the reduction was massive. We had drivers, but there were no cars, machine operators without equipment, bricklayers, carpenters for housing programs, but due to the debt that was in place, suppliers stopped supplying, so these crews were all out of work, due to a lack of supplies to be able to carry out their work,” said Jované.
He pointed out that another of the findings that was discovered and that is being reviewed by the Internal Audit Department is the duplication of checks for late payment of vacations and thirteenth months, which is why an investigation is being carried out to determine the magnitude of this case.
There are also important accounts payable on completed projects with a magnitude of approximately 23 million balboas, the lease of the Miviot offices in Plaza Edison where there is an overdue amount of more than a year, late payment to the promoters of the Housing Solidarity Fund, which in total add up to an average of 140 million balboas, many of which are overdue.
Regarding the Techos de Esperanza program, the head of the Housing portfolio indicated that the complaints follow the regular process, because there are materials that did not arrive or were lost and when the contracting companies went bankrupt, the materials were abandoned in different yards and in some places they did not arrive complete.
He said that after Techos de Esperanza, former minister Rogelio Paredes launched the Plan Progreso program with other types of construction materials, the inventories are being reviewed to continue with what was left in each of the regions and finish fulfilling their obligations to the beneficiaries.
He said that all materials must be put to use and not allowed to deteriorate over time, because this is what happened with Techos de Esperanza.
