Fiu is clean, at least that is what the Special Investigative Commission of the Chamber of Deputies defined after the accusation made by controller Dorothy Pérez in the State Defense Council (CDE) regarding the Santiago 2023 Pan American and Parapan American Games.
In his presentation at the Commission, Pérez maintained that there are 21 resolutions that must be reviewed to verify the legality of the contracting of the works of the event, which have been executed by the National Sports Institute of Chile (IND). Specifically, they were accused of not surrendering 194 billion pesos for the multi-sports event.
Commission Definition
Despite the arguments described, the Investigative Commission of the Lower House ruled out irregularities, delays or deficiencies in Santiago 2023.
Radio ADN He had access to the document in which the organization ruled out the irregularities. “There are a series of questions, which have been resolved as a result of the presentations and background information provided by the various actors.”
Likewise, the increases in the initial budget (about 153% over the original) were credited, which had the accusation of overpricing in tenders.
At this point, the National Stadium Park was given as an example, indicating that “it is natural that contracts undergo modifications, especially these works, which were conceived during a period of uncertainty experienced worldwide, caused by the outbreak of covid-19. and its extension over time.” It is also noted that “the growth in the amount of contracts between their beginning and their current condition (in the process of receipt) is established between 31 to 36%, whose growth is mainly explained by the inflationary effect in the period 2021 to 2022.”
On the other hand, the Commission, when referring to the surrender of amounts, maintained that there is demonstration in the ongoing procedures and current deadlines to carry out these surrenders.
As an example, the Cerrillos Project was used: “It is key to mention that it was proven during the development of the Commission that fewer resources were transferred than initially thought. Specifically, Th$6,499, and the entity has a current deadline to render by May 2024. In the case of the Santiago 2023 Corporation, for infrastructure improvement/replacement works (Th$1,783), they have a current deadline to render by February of this year.”
Role of the controller
The role of controller Dorothy Pérez has been praised as well as questioned in this case. This is because the members of the Commission praised her role in instructing the National Sports Institute in case of possible negligence in the delays and non-compliance with the works of the event.
However, the same instance criticized the change of position that Pérez had five days after making the accusations, indicating that there was no understanding about the loss of money and that there was a working group between the Ministry of Sports, the National Institute of Sports and the Comptroller General of the Republic.
The sending of background information to the CDE was also questioned, since the process “would be relevant to the comprehensive closure of the process, scheduled for June of this year 2024, in the event that the private entity maintains, at that date, funds without rendering or observations of the National Sports Institute without responding.”
The hiring of people on a fee basis by the Santiago 2023 Corporation has not been analyzed by the Commission.