The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) admitted on 12 May an appeal filed by International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), a company irregularly excluded from the tender process for the Puerto Caldera port terminal in Costa Rica, in order to conduct a thorough review of a series of possible irregularities in the award process.

“The appeals filed are hereby admitted for processing, and a hearing is granted for the non-extendable period of five business days counted from the day following notification of this order, to the administration and the awarded party so that they may submit in writing whatever they deem appropriate regarding the allegations raised by the appellant company in its appeal filings, and likewise provide or offer the evidence they consider relevant,” stated the oversight body. 

First step in correcting an inconsistencies-plagued process 

For his part, Bart Wiersum, Director, Business Development, Americas at International Container Terminal Services Inc., welcomed the CGR’s decision, saying, “We welcome the CGR’s decision as a first step toward correcting a process plagued by irregularities and lack of transparency.” 

On 18 February, the Costa Rican Pacific Ports Institute, without properly substantiating its criteria, excluded ICTSI merely stating that it exceeded the maximum Debt-to-Equity ratio established in the tender specifications, despite the fact that one week earlier, the same entity had confirmed that ICTSI complied with this requirement. 

ICTSI’s exclusion resulted in the process continuing with the sole participation of the Sunset Consortium comprised of APM Terminals B.V. and HGT Inversiones Costa Rica S.A., which was ultimately awarded the contract.