The Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temístocles Montás responded to more questioning as to corruption in government purchases. This time he addressed the issue of the importing of tubes for the aqueducts to be built in the Northwest. He said that the tubing will be imported from Brazil because it was the only way to obtain 100% financing for the project. Engineers Emilio Almonte and Julio Suero Marranzini say the government could economize several hundreds of million in the execution of the works if the tubes are purchased on the local market. The prestigious engineers criticized the construction of the aqueducts that will be replacing a less costly project that would channel water by gravity. News reports have recently documented cases of alleged corruption such as in the case of the purchase of 10 helicopters from a Brazilian firm (cover story in Rumbo of this week), the buses purchased also from Brazil for the public transport system (OMSA), and now the Brazilian tubing for the aqueducts.
