The court has overturned the lighting contract for La Laguna due to bidding irregularities.
The court has annulled the contract for street lighting maintenance in La Laguna due to irregularities in the tender, prompting criticism from the opposition regarding the transparency of the city's administration.
Juan Antonio Molina, a representative of the People's Party in La Laguna, stated that the decision of the Administrative Court of Public Contracts of the Canary Islands is "very serious." The court overturned the street lighting maintenance contract because it found "irregularities" in how the local authorities (PSOE and Canarian Coalition parties) conducted the tender.
The court ruled that the contract won by the Imesapi-Emelsa consortium is invalid. Now they must be excluded from the tender, and the contract should be offered to the next company. The People's Party believes that this decision demonstrates a "lack of transparency and foresight" in the city's management.
The La Laguna City Council stated that it "fully respects" the court's decision and will study it to decide whether to appeal to the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands.
At the same time, the City Council assured that all officials are professionals and that procurement procedures are carried out very carefully. They emphasized that the city services will ensure proper lighting of the city, so that everything is efficient and of high quality.
Molina emphasized that there were already questions about the procedure due to a possible conflict of interest during the technical evaluation. He regrets that the authorities did not ensure impartiality. "It is unacceptable that the City Council is forced to redo everything due to negligent management," he added.
He demands that the mayor, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, explain to the residents how he plans to solve this problem. Molina reminded that this is an important contract for the future of the city, worth more than 18 million, and mismanagement could lead to significant losses.