The Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) issued a report last Friday, June 10. In the same denounced before the Public Ministry to the National Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (Dinac) for buying primary and secondary radars for US$ 7 million that do not work.
Édgar “Beto” Melgarejo, former head of Dinac, and his successor Félix Kanazawa guaranteed said purchase for G. 49,997 million. The Comptroller, after an investigation confirmed that the devices do not work.
It is called 330224 for G. 49,997 million (US$ 7.2 million at the current exchange rate). Now the Public Ministry must appoint a prosecutor to initiate a criminal investigation. The supplier firm is Omni SA whose legal representative is Eduardo de Gásperi Camacho.
COMPTROLLER MEETING
Yesterday morning, at the request of Dinac, authorities from said entity met with Augusto Paiva, deputy comptroller, and with authorities from the Air Force. After the meeting, the deputy comptroller affirmed that they can no longer do anything, and that the explanations must be made by Dinac before the Public Ministry.
Another striking aspect is that the Air Force confirmed that the radars do not work. It should be remembered that the Comptroller’s report was based mainly on statements by said military authorities, taking into account that they are the ones who use the device acquired by Dinac.
“It was a meeting requested by the president of Dinac and the Air Force, where they presented their points of view, we clarified that we lost jurisdiction when the report was sent to the Attorney General’s Office, and that they would have to send their concerns regarding the final report made to Dinac. However, if they do it to the CGR, we inform the Prosecutor’s Office, within the cooperation agreement that we have with them, ”he said.
PUNISHMENT TO THE SUPPLIER
Pablo Seitz, head of the National Directorate of Public Procurement (DNCP), stated that this case is related to a contractual breach and contractual execution. Seitz affirms that the process of the call did not register any inconvenience.
“The document issued by the Comptroller refers to the contractual execution. What should be done in these cases is to verify the supplier’s conduct and analyze it within a disciplinary summary”, he commented.
Seitz has already spoken with Camilo Benítez, Comptroller General of the Republic, on this subject. They agreed that the latter will send the complete report and from there, the DNCP will initiate the disciplinary investigation.
“In no more than 48 hours they will send us the report and in the event that there is non-compliance behavior by the supplier, a summary is instructed and the supplier is liable to a sanction that can range from three months to three months. years,” he explained.
DINAC
When asked about Dinac’s responsibility in this case, since the public entity never reported on the non-operation of the radars, he stated that the main controller of the contracts signed by the State is the public institution that signed the contract. However, he stressed that the Comptroller’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office or the Prosecutor’s Office are the institutions that must define sanctions for Dinac.
“If there was a problem in the execution and fulfillment of the contract, the one that should have reported it first is the subscribing public institution. According to the Comptroller’s report, as a result of a communication issued by the Military Forces, the radars do not meet the requirements”, he pointed out.
