The Official College of Architects (COA) of Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro celebrated on Tuesday that the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) “put Coto” to the direct awards to the public company Gesplan by the administrations.
In a statement, the COA alludes to two recent sentences of the TSJC that annul two direct awards for Gesplan by the municipalities of Candelaria and San Juan de la Rambla (Tenerife).
The COA recalls that the initial objective of this public company “was to act only in case of urgent need and not systematically, as it has been happening today.”
It abounds that “the abuse of this practice” by the public administrations “is a direct impact” on the architecture studies of the islands, since direct awards prevent free concurrence.
The COA indicates that although the regulations allow to go to its own environment, “this is only justified in terms of efficiency, speed and institutional control.”
In its recent sentences, the TSJC refers to the absence of a report that demonstrates, in a clear, objectified and accredited way, that greater efficiency of Gesplan to execute the orders referred to in the face of the possible options that the free market can offer.
-The College of Architects interprets these judicial decisions as “a forceful warning” to public institutions about their obligation to “rigorously document” the reasons why a tender does not begin.
He warns that “the abuse of this practice” by public administrations makes the profession of architect run the risk of being “stagnant and limited” to the business guidelines of a “business mastodon”, referring to Gesplan.
The COA adds that the direct adjudication of the projects without going through free concurrence means “a decrease in the quality of the projects, finally harming the citizens for which they are executed.”
Likewise, from a planning perspective of the territory, and taking into account “the great challenge” that the Canary Islands currently face, it feeds that the drafting of urban plans without prior contest implies a homogeneization of the measures and solutions raised, without taking into account the diversity of the archipelago.
Finally, remember that “15,000 professionals are still waiting for a response from the Canary Islands Government after the signing of the Manifesto in April 2023” in which the direct and repeated award of their works and services to the public companies belonging to the Government of the Canary Islands were denounced.
From the COA, the need for the Canary Executive to “take measures and be forceful” is insisted to delimit Gesplan’s actions.
