Lanzarote en Pie-Sí Podemos announced this Thursday, in a press conference, that they will report to the Prosecutor's Office the payment of up to 639,922 euros from the Tourist Centers to the company Lanzarote Bus during the time of Echedey Eugenio as president of the Board of Directors of the public entity. According to the purple formation, the payments, which were for "the bus rental service of Montañas de Fuego and transportation of workers", were made through "invoice contracts without a bidding or awarding process."
"Echedey Eugenio is a former employee of the companies in this group, in this case Arrecife Bus, as stated in his Linkedin profile", stated the councilor of Lanzarote en Pie-Sí Podemos in the Cabildo, Myriam Barros, who pointed out that this connection makes them assume "that there is an illegitimate motivation" and that is why they will bring these facts to the attention of the Prosecutor's Office "to investigate if irregularities have occurred."
Likewise, the purple formation, through its deputy for Lanzarote, María del Río, has announced that it will also report the facts in Parliament, before the Finance and Budget Committee, and before the Court of Auditors. "We are going to supervise, but it is true that the Court of Auditors has a slower pace and that is why we let the Prosecutor's Office do its investigation, but also the Court of Auditors, because it is a tool that we have", Del Río pointed out.
Details of the payments
The councilor of Lanzarote en Pie- Sí Podemos in the Cabildo, Myriam Barros, explained that, after receiving an anonymous letter from a worker in December denouncing "a series of irregularities", they decided to request documentation both in the Cabildo and in the Tourist Centers, "to find out if this group of companies received subsidies or had any contract with the administration."
After that, she affirms that they were able to verify that "in July 2011, being Ástrid Pérez CEO of the EPEL-CACT, a contract was signed with Lanzarote Bus for an amount of 10,200 euros with the concept of bus rental service of Montañas de Fuego", which extended until September, when "an annex to extend the contract" was signed for that month for the amount of 6,000 euros. "But for these contracts there is a procedure, there were three economic offers, a proposal for award and a report of need by the Director of Operations and it does not seem that there is any irregularity", she pointed out.
However, the councilor of Lanzarote en Pie-Sí Podemos has affirmed that, after that date, there are different invoices to the company Lanzarote Bus "without there being more contracting procedures, noticing an important quantitative leap from the year 2015, with the characteristic that in July of that year Echedey Eugenio was appointed as president of the Board of Directors."
"We understand that until 2015, until the entry of Echedey Eugenio, they are normal amounts, because we are talking about 1,020 euros in 2012, 14,587 euros in 2013 and 10,094 in 2014", Myriam Barros pointed out, who however has detailed that "in 2015 four times more was paid than in 2014" to this group of companies, passing the payments from a total of 10,094 euros to 41,613 euros. "But this is not all. The total amount in 2016 was 100,348.01 euros, ten times more than before his appointment", she added
According to the councilor of Lanzarote en Pie-Sí Podemos, the payments continued in the following years, being 94,479.20 euros in 2017, a total of 150,491 euros in 2018 and 249,987.70 euros in 2019, until the entry of the new government group, which already put the service out to tender, which is pending award. "For the justification of these amounts, there is no documentation that accredits in any case public tender or bidding, giving as valid a minor contract signed in 2011 for a service that did not reach 18,000 euros", Barros insisted.
According to the councilor of Lanzarote en Pie-Sí Podemos, the following documentation in this regard shows that "in April 2019, being José Juan Lorenzo CEO of the EPEL, a report of need and suitability of the contract was signed", which "serves as justification for the payment of 19,962.40 euros for services rendered during the month of March."
"It refers to offers provided that do not appear or passed through registration, which also has no explanation. Why were they trying to justify in March 2019 and not everything else?", she questioned.
"Money from citizens has been let go in handfuls"
"We are completely sure that there are more companies and cases like this, that it is not the only one", Myriam Barros also pointed out, who believes that what was denounced this Thursday "is the tip of the iceberg of what is in the Tourist Centers." "I believe that we are going to talk about the Tourist Centers unfortunately a lot, because money from all the citizens of Lanzarote has been let go in handfuls", Barros pointed out, who has affirmed that her formation will also be "vigilant" before the actions of the new government group.
For his part, the also councilor of the purple formation in the Cabildo, Jorge Peñas, has affirmed that "the alleged irregularities are not only quantitative, but also qualitative, in the sense that the nature of the first contract seems to be a support for buses that have a breakdown or a punctual access to a small financing through a minor contract and there is allegedly a systematic contracting of a company with which it has personal links." "That is what we are going to pursue to the last extremes in all ways, administrative, civil and even criminal if the Prosecutor's Office detects possible violations", he added.
"We are not only going to pursue, in a firm opposition, any act of corruption, of designation by finger or of contracting with suppliers that do not comply with the law of the current government group in the Cabildo, formed by PSOE and PP, linked to Somos and NC in Arrecife, but we will also supervise and will not let pass any act of corruption or contrary to the law that has happened during the 10 years that CC has been governing in the Cabildo. Therefore, this is the beginning of a firm campaign against any corruption", he concluded.
