Global Courant 2023-05-06 16:00:35
A Q37 thousand drone, three motorcycles at Q27 thousand each and overvalued soccer balls at a cost of Q83 thousand are purchases made by the Ministry of the Interior (Mingob) this year and whose use does not justify the purchase or the price, according to security analysts.
In the case of the drone, the general directorate of the Penitentiary System (SP) justifies on the Guatecompras portal that it is “necessary to document with videos and photographs, from various angles, the verification of anomalous actions and exactly record the characteristics of the area where it flies” .
However, this type of recent model devices and with the same characteristics of the one that the SP acquired do not exceed Q26 thousand in stores of the best-known brands in Guatemala, according to their electronic portals.
Among the acquisitions of the SP there are also three motorcycles for Q83 thousand 466.60 at a unit cost of Q27 thousand 822, which were awarded on April 20 in the direct purchase modality, “due to lack of bidders.”
Motorcycles of a well-known Japanese brand have, according to the description on the electronic portal, electric start, four-stroke engine, power of 16.07 horsepower, 190 cm³ engine and five speeds.
functions
The director of the SP, Joaquín Flores Guzmán, indicated that the drone will be used in searches to have better information on the environment in prisons before the security forces enter and especially if there is a riot.
“For security reasons, I cannot give more information on how this drone will be used,” the official concluded.
Regarding motorcycles, he said that when he took office they found no mobility and had to buy vehicles, since the motorcycles that were purchased three years ago are in poor condition and repairing them represents too much expense.
“That is why there are people in charge of the purchases and they have to see that they are not overvalued. I don’t think the brand lends itself to those things,” Flores stressed.
balls
Last April, Mingob spent Q38,500 on the purchase of 29 basketballs and soccer balls, as well as 13 nets for handball, indoor soccer, and volleyball. In addition, six basketball nets, 15 whistles and 22 soccer uniforms.
The sports equipment is for the General Subdirectorate of Studies and Doctrine of the PNC. The futsal balls, 10 in total, were paid for Q480 each, when in stores, with the same specifications and brands, they are priced at Q275 and shipping is included. The same happens with the volleyballs, since six were bought for Q850 and according to electronic portals their price ranges between Q500.
The cost of these balls is due to the fact that they are used by professional players and have even been used by the national soccer league.
uniforms
The same agency spent Q85 thousand on clothing items, which consist of 12 hats, 12 police gala suits and 12 pairs of shoes for the eighth promotion of the PNC Officer Training School.
On April 17, that same agency awarded the entity New Sunrise, a Limited Company, Q40,125 for the acquisition of 15 executive chairs for the use of professionals and police personnel working in the Police Scientific Doctrine and Investigation Section.
Regarding these purchases, the General Director of the PNC, Edwin Ardiano, said that he did not have further information and that they would also verify these acquisitions, stating that although the portal registers them as awarded, the contract for the balls was terminated.
“They are informing me that they voted on the contracts, it is not official, but I will inform you when I have all the information,” he explained.
distractor
For Eddy Cux, an expert on transparency issues at Acción Ciudadana, it is common for the election period to be used for irregular purchases because there is no control over instances such as the Comptroller General of Accounts.
Cux, points out that two phenomena that occur at election time are the increase in public spending in key ministries such as Social Development and Agriculture, which use resources in a patronage manner, and irregular purchases in other departments such as the Interior.
“Overvalued purchases result in campaign financing. The Ministry of Communications is a dependency that always lends itself to clientelism and they even asked for a budget increase. Entities such as the Comptroller General of Accounts are not aware and everyone takes advantage of the context of elections, ”she points out.
The cost of the motorcycles that presidios acquired coincides with market prices, although sales managers recommend not using them for parcel delivery because they consume too much fuel.
