Costa Rica’s Comptroller’s Office has determined that the Instituto Costarricense de Puertos del Pacífico (Incop) – Pacific ports institute – failed to carry out an adequate inspection of the Caldera port concessionaire, Sociedad Portuaria de Caldera (SPC).
By law, Incop must ensure that ongoing expansion and maintenance works at the facility, budgeted at us$4.34 million, are being carried out in compliance with the concession contract.
In its report, the Contraloría said Incop approved SPC’s infrastructure maintenance plan 20 months after the scheduled date, following numerous revisions to the program by both parties.
“Although us$567,910 was allocated for inspection duties in 2008, Incop has not carried out these tasks in a timely fashion. The entity has not verified whether the construction process and the quality of construction materials comply with the technical and financial requirements,” the report said.
Another finding is that some activities, under a consultancy contract, to strengthen inspection and control units took 18 months to complete, although the original timeframe was six months.
The Contraloría instructed Incop to improve its internal procedures and to demand that the concessionaire comply with the contract, as well as carry out timely inspection and control duties.
In addition, the authority said a technical control unit from the government’s inspection department must ensure that a definitive timetable is established to monitor the completion of consultancy activities.
Incop officials have yet to comment.
From Inside Costa Rica, April 2009
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