The Superior Administrative Court (TSA) ruled in favor of the Procurement Agency (DGCP) that had disputed the concession through 2044 of the Teatro Agua y Luz, a dancing waters theater in the Centro de los Heroes, Santo Domingo and a government hotel in Constanza.
The Teatro Agua y Luz contract was to Consultoría Astur, a company linked to former minister of Foreign Relations, Miguel Vargas Maldonado. Astur’s manager is Alan Omar Vargas García, the son of the former minister. The Procurement Agency argued the contract violated Procurement Law 340 and the company did not carry out the renovation works it had committed to in the contract.
The TSA also ruled in favor of the Procurement Agency in the case of Golden Star Hotel and Resort that had benefited from a rental contract for the Hotel Nueva Suiza in the mountain area of Constanza, La Vega province. The DGCP had annulled the contract, arguing the rental agreement was full of irregularities.
In the press release announcing the TSA decisions, the head of the DGCP, Carlos Pimentel, said that the TSA “has acted in defense of the public patrimony, an interest that was affected in both cases when the concessions were camouflaged as leases.”
While these are old structures, much of the worth is in the real estate given the prime locations of these touristic facilities.
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DGCP
3 March 2021