In December 2022, the Comptroller General of the Republic notified the Ministry of Culture of a tax finding for $9.24 billion for alleged irregularities in the construction of the César Conto Ferrer Theater in Quibdó (Chocó).
The Ministry of Culture issued a statement stating that “the work is not abandoned, as it has a surveillance service” and that “the construction and supervision contracts for the César Conto Ferrer Theater in Quibdó, awarded in the last administration, are in process of termination and liquidation”.
He notes that upon finding the alleged irregularities, the Ministry of Culture took the necessary measures to unlock this project where three contracts have been signed: one for construction, another for supervision and the last for the provision of the Theater. The first two were signed in 2017 and the third in 2019.
There are still finishes and details of the civil works that must be adjusted through a new work proposal, which includes the studies and designs of the finishes, as well as the provision of the infrastructure and a budget that allows the commissioning of the Theater.
The Ministry of Culture signed a consultancy contract that must determine the missing works for the completion of the theater and adjust the endowment of its infrastructure, as well as estimate the value of the works to be contracted.
So far, 11,785 million pesos have been invested, a figure that corresponds to all the resources that were initially planned, without counting the cost overruns caused by the particular conditions that arose in the execution of the project, such as: the difficulty in the access of supplies to the construction zone, the expected time for its development, the strong impact of the health emergency caused by COVID-19, among others.
For the consultancy, which will start working from January 2023, 320 million pesos were allocated. The remaining works on the César Conto Ferrer Theater are expected to begin in the second half of 2023 and finish in 2024.
Comptroller’s Audit
In the audit, carried out by the Delegate Comptroller for the Education, Science and Technology, Culture, Recreation and Sports sector, it was verified that the built work presents premature deterioration, caused by lack of maintenance, and the concrete and metallic structure presents oxidation due to continuous exposure to moisture and weather.
The audit report also indicates that it is not functional given the inadequate construction in contrast to the project designs and non-compliance with current technical regulations for this type of construction, which means that the theater cannot fulfill its purpose.
With regard to those in charge of the supervision and supervision of the project, the Comptroller verified that their work was inadequate, since, respectively, modifications in the amounts of work that affected the budget were received and approved, exhausting the resource for achieve the completion of the civil works.
It was also possible to verify, according to the investigation of the control entity, that the properties destined for the new theater were not cleaned up, before the opening of the state contracting and construction process. From the Comptroller’s Office they also warned that another situation that affected the project is that a complete analysis of the studies and designs that supported the technical specifications of the work was not carried out and that, even in the execution of the same, they continued to modify them.
The César Conto Ferrer Theater in Quibdó came to light in 1937 by agreement of the council of the capital of the department of Chocó that ordered the construction of a theater for the city.
It was not until 1963 that the old order of the Quibdó Council could be fulfilled: an 8-story building, built by the Chocó Charity and at the initiative of the governor, Lieutenant Commander and Navy Doctor, Miguel Ángel Arcos.
By then, the inauguration of the César Conto Ferrer Theater was an event, as it was the first theater in Colombia with stereophonic sound and a stage with the height of a five-story building.
A little over two decades ago the theater stopped working and was at the mercy of abandonment. Until in 2016, as a result of the Chocó Civic Strike and with the support of La W Radio and private companies, and thanks to donations of resources, designs and supplies, the theater reconstruction and rehabilitation project materialized.