What Happened
The public tender for the urban renewal of the Plaza 5 de Mayo area in Panama City has been thrown into dispute after one bidder formally challenged the recommendation to award the contract. The project carries a reference price of $7 million and is now suspended while the complaint is reviewed.
The Municipality of Panama promoted the bidding process, which had been moving toward an award to Consorcio Gana-Oti after the evaluation commission concluded that its proposal was the lowest and met the mandatory requirements in the bidding documents.
The Competing Bids
The commission’s report said Consorcio Gana-Oti offered just over $6 million and complied with the minimum obligations, including financial capacity and technical experience. On that basis, the panel recommended awarding the contract under Article 58 of Law 22 of 2006.
Consorcio Vértice, whose bid was only $36,000 higher, filed the challenge and argued that the evaluation was based on an “erroneous, mistaken and inexcusable” analysis. The complaint says the recommended proposal contains errors that cannot be corrected and that those mistakes change the outcome of the tender.
Why the Challenge Matters
In its claim, Consorcio Vértice says the companies that make up Gana-Oti, Corporación Grupo Oti, S.A. and Grupo Oti Panamá, S.A., listed the wrong public act number in their forms. It also argues that the bid contains a breakdown error in prices and ITBMS.
According to the challenge, the proposal shows a subtotal of $5.7 million and ITBMS of $330,680, but a 7% tax calculation would place the tax at $400,680.64. That would raise the total proposal to $6,124,689.85, rather than the $6,054,689.85 submitted, which would affect its standing as the lowest offer.
The challenge also says the Gana-Oti proposal omitted the registration numbers of the professionals involved, despite that being a mandatory requirement of the tender documents. It further states that some experience certificates for the architect were addressed to the Ministry of Education rather than the Municipality of Panama, and that some did not prove the minimum required 15,000 square meters.
What Happens Next
The Directorate General of Public Procurement admitted the challenge against the evaluation report and ordered the process suspended. The bidding procedure now remains in a complaint status while the case is reviewed.
The dispute adds uncertainty to a project that had been framed as part of the urban renewal of one of Panama City’s most historic and heavily used public spaces. Plaza 5 de Mayo sits at the center of an area that has long been important to transit, commerce and civic activity in the capital.