According to the entity, the plants were going to be used to make seawater drinkable and would have a value of $42,000 million pesos.
Images of Olmedo López, former director of the UNGRD, arrived at the Supreme Court of Justice to provide details about Wadith Manzur’s apparent relationship in the Risk Management corruption scandal.
The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) will seek to suspend, through a precautionary measure, the contract of more than $42,000 million for the installation of desalination plants in La Guajira.
The request will be presented at a public hearing on December 23arguing alleged irregularities and a possible illicit interest in the awarding of the project.
The contract, signed on February 9, 2024 under the direction of Olmedo López, aims to build three desalination plants with autonomous solar energy to supply drinking water to the towns of Bahía Honda, Irraipa and Puerto López, in addition to Puerto Estrella.
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Despite the importance of the project for the region, investigations by the Attorney General’s Office and other control entities identifying possible cost overruns and anomalies in the contracting process.
This contract was pointed out during the recent hearing to bring charges against Olmedo López, Sneyder Pinilla and Luis Eduardo López Rosero, who are linked to alleged acts of corruption related to the management of the entity.
The director of the entity Carlos Carrillo pointed out that, “We are going to process the suspension of the desalination plants in a public hearing, which add up to a total of 42,000 million pesos, signed by Olmedo López this year”.
According to the entity, They have not made any disbursement to date, But according to the director, the contractor put pressure on the contractor to make the initial payment.
This reinforces the need to take precautionary measures to protect public resources, according to Carlos Carrillo Arenas, current director of Risk Management, pointing out that, “Our commitment to transparency and efficiency in the use of resources is unwavering. We will not give in to pressure from contractors immersed in corruption scandals,” said Carrillo.
Finally, the director of the entity pointed out that The precautionary measure seeks to stop any progress in the execution of the contract while investigations continue. The National Risk Management Unit emphasized that the project must comply with the principles of legality and efficiency to guarantee that public funds are used for the real benefit of vulnerable communities.
