2024-08-23 18:38:06
The complaint was filed with the Attorney General by Marlon Pasquel Espín. Upon learning of this, Roberto Luque, former Minister of Energy and current Minister of Public Works, stated that the Government “has nothing to hide” and was awarded the contract to rent the barge after a bidding process with two bidders. He attributed the complaint against him to political interests.
On July 18, 2024, a complaint was filed with the State Attorney General’s Office for alleged influence peddling against Roberto Luque, former Minister of Energy and current Minister of Public Works and against the acting manager of the Ecuadorian Electricity Corporation (Cell), Fabian Calero.
The complaint is Marlon Pasquel Espin and requires that both officials be investigated for their actions “in the pre-contractual and contractual process” of renting a barge for 18 months. The crime is punishable by 3 to 5 years in prison, according to the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code (COIP).
Upon learning of this complaint, Luque held a press conference on July 19 in Guayaquil; and stressed that within the hiring of additional power generation From the beginning, two fundamental aspects were sought: shorter lead times and lower costs. “People wanted their problems resolved quickly, but at the lowest price.”
Luque said that this necessarily implied that the contract would be awarded to the bidder who had a barge with its own anchoring system.
“This will prevent us from having to build a docking system. That would have cost an additional $4 to $6 million and taken between 6 and 8 months to execute and build,” he added.
Additional thermoelectric generation, both on barge and on-shore solutions, must be urgently contracted because a drought o dry season severe for the last months of 2024. This drought could start in September or at the latest in October.
Karpowership, the company that was awarded the contract to rent a barge to Ecuador, has been accused of corruption in previous contracts signed in Lebanon, South Africa and Pakistan.
However, the Government assures that everything has been done legally.
“We have nothing to hide”
According to Luque, bidding bases were set for five processes: four for the purchase of electricity on land (Salitral, Santa Elene, Quevedo and Esmeraldas); and only one for the rental of a barge.
He also said that a tender process was carried out, even though the law allowed for direct awarding.
“Two offers were submitted. One of them was for rent with its own anchoring system and was new. Another one that did not have an anchoring system and was from 1971. The first option was clearly the best,” he said.
Luque explained that, before the award, the bidder had sent them information that it had begun a journey with one of its generating vessels to America, under its own risk and expense.
“We have nothing to hide. The calls to oversee this purchasing process, made by various political actors, are not only welcome; I personally will do everything possible to ensure that the public institutions called upon to oversee it do so,” he clarified.
Luque also announced that early next week, together with Celec’s acting manager, he will submit a request for a special review to the Comptroller’s Office to review the process of renting a barge.
«Old Ecuador cannot conceive of emergency contracts without overpricing and without a charge. The ghost of the emergency contracts from the 2016 earthquake, and the demolition of buildings with a charge, makes it inconceivable for them to think that there are emergency contracts without corruption. The overpriced medical supply contracts during the pandemic prevent them from even thinking about the possibility of contracts without a charge», said Luque.
Finally, Luque questioned the complainant Marlon Pasquel and said that they have obtained information that he was “a contractor for the Guayaquil land terminal for the provision of 3,000 masks, with a unit price of $2.25, during the pandemic.” (JS)