The Comptroller of Puerto Rico issues a qualified opinion on the fiscal operations of the Municipality of Gurabo related to construction works and permanent improvements, and civil lawsuits. A qualified opinion is issued when the instances of noncompliance, individually or together, are significant but not pervasive.
The Report reveals that the Municipality did not hold a public bidding to carry out repaving works on several roads for $2 million, but instead amended and added that amount to the contract with the company that had won the original bid for $4 million. In addition, it awarded a contract for $116,200 for the acquisition of several bronze sculptures without holding a public bidding (see photos in Exhibit 2), and split 11 contracts and one amendment for a total of $1.3 million to evade the public bidding procedure. A similar situation had already been commented on in Reports M-13-05 of 2012 and M-15-12 of 2014.
The three-finding audit notes that the Municipality, despite operating at a deficit, paid $2.1 million on projects with no usefulness that have rendered no benefit for the citizenry. The El Cristo de la Montaña sculpture has not been installed, the pieces are deteriorated and abandoned (see Exhibit 4). The bronze sculptures and artistic pieces of the Plaza de la Puertorriqueñidad remain stored since 2013 and are deteriorated and in disuse (see Exhibit 5). Despite the remodeling of the Municipal Library in 2016, the facility has still not been used. The facilities of a Paso Fino horse track built from 2014 to 2016 have not been used and are abandoned.
Our auditors identified that $37,120 was paid for the construction of a septic well and restrooms at the baseball park of the Masas II ward. However, these works were already included in the original contract of $99,999, for which an additional improper payment was made contrary to law and regulation.
The Report comments that the Municipality contracted in 2012 the construction of the ball park of the Celada ward for $6 million, to a special partnership whose president had pleaded guilty to bribery in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. That person assigned his participation in the special partnership to a trust, but maintained an interest in the generated profits contrary to Act 458-2000, which prohibits, among other things, that any governmental entity contract persons convicted or guilty in state or federal forums.
In addition, the Municipality of Gurabo paid $65,000 by agreement of the parties, following a lawsuit by an employee for political discrimination. This situation affected the Municipality's resources since it had to make a disbursement without receiving any service.
The Report covers the period from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2016.
See Audit Report M-18-37.
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