The Comptroller General of the Republic opened a process of fiscal responsibility for the facts related to the Work Contract No. 1613 of November 29, 2018, which had as its object the “Construction of the first stage of the park house in the air municipality of Valledupar – Department of Cesar».
Irregularities are related to non-compliance with technical specifications, foundation problems and designs, deficiencies in finishes not in accordance with the contract.
In addition, its future support was not projected to ensure its stability, its social and cultural use to fulfill the purpose for which it was hired, therefore, it is in a state of abandonment, exposed to deterioration due to the passage of time, presenting a detriment for all the values invested in the execution of the work, amounting to $13,264,959,485.
In this regard, the Comptroller General of the Republic, Carlos Hernán Rodríguez, declared the aforementioned facts of national impact, so that the Special Investigations Unit against Corruption is the unit that carries out the necessary procedures, for the verification of the investment made in the construction of the first stage of the Casa en el Aire Park, in the municipality of Valledupar, in Cesar, and thus guarantee full compliance with the economic rights of the population of the department.
The senior official said that the mayor of Valledupar, Mello Castro, gave the word that construction will end in September of this year. “In October we return to this city to see if it complied,” he said.
La Casa en el Aire is a tribute to the most important cultural tradition in Colombia, with an initial investment of $9.295 million, it continues to be at risk of becoming a white elephant.
The project contracted in 2018 provides its services sporadically to the public and its completion is uncertain. The project requires the addition of resources to become operational and to establish the conditions of operation, maintenance and administration. Additionally, the Mayor of Valledupar and the contractor have not yet reconciled their differences regarding additional works carried out for the liquidation of the first phase.
Within the framework of the Colombia Commitment strategy, the Comptroller General of the Republic has opened spaces for the citizens and the executors to carry out actions for the total culmination of the House on the Air and the Valledupar Mayor’s Office promised to liquidate the initial contract of the first phase, to close this stage and continue with the definition of the necessary resources for its completion. According to the initially planned schedules, the additional works would be delivered in November of this year.
Although the investment planned by the municipal administration does not cover the more than five billion pesos that the initial project in Phase II contemplated, the Valledupar mayor’s office hopes to deliver some complementary works to the community, such as urban planning, parking lots and sanitary units.
However, the project included in the CGR’s Compromiso Colombia strategy since March 2021 is at risk due to difficulties in the
liquidation.
The Comptroller General of the Republic called for a participatory dialogue to verify the progress of the project and evidenced that, up to now, there is no willingness to reconcile between the contractor and the Valledupar administration, warning that more work is necessary the Mayor’s Office to meet the deadlines set to close the first phase, on the one hand, and to contract the complementary works, on the other.