The Canary Islands’ President, Fernando Clavijo, expressed disappointment yesterday about the mishandled process by the previous administration in changing the entire nature of the island ring closure project between El Tanque and Santiago del Teide. However, he remains hopeful that the project will not be halted.
Clavijo made reference to the TSJC decision which favoured the joint venture led by OHL and invalidated the contract awarded to the FCC joint venture. The FCC had originally won the bid for the project at 240.5 million Euros – a figure that has now increased to over 263 million Euros – after filing a complaint with the Autonomous Community’s Administrative Court of Public Contracts.
The President stated that the TSJC acknowledged the inappropriate actions of the previous administration and mentioned that the Ministry of Public Works is currently reviewing the ruling to assess the potential repercussions and to make informed decisions. He did not shy away from the possibility of compensating the initial winners as they rightfully won the bid. Clavijo views the court ruling as a setback because it results in losses for the Canary Islands in one way or another. He believes that halting the project would be counterproductive as it would go against the general interest. He emphasized that it should be the Community’s legal services that guide the Executive’s actions.
The project was awarded on June 4, 2019, during Clavijo’s tenure as the President of the Canary Islands. The FCC joint venture contested the decision at the Autonomous Community’s Administrative Court of Public Contracts, which ruled in their favour. Consequently, the Public Works Minister of the previous term, Sebastián Franquis (PSOE), approved the change.
The TSJC now posits that the original bid was not reckless, despite being 152 million Euros lower than the base budget, and did not breach labour regulations. The court only identified a minor shortfall of 13,200 Euros concerning the expenses related to the structure supervisors.
