APM manager clarifies doubts about MTOP official

Jose Garcia, the manager of the Manta Port Authority (APM for its Spanish acronym), denied that officials from the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP) interfered in the concession process carried out by the agency and rejected an alleged influence peddling.

This is due to comments on social networks on the current procurement undersecretary of the MTOP, Jorge Albornoz, who might have held office in 2010 as the secretary ad-hoc of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of Agunsa Ecuador, a subsidiary of the Chilean firm Agunsa, the only bidder in the tender for the Manta port concession.

“There is no interference in the process, although (Albornoz) is the procurement undersecretary of the Concessions, he is MTOP and the institution that is responsible for acquisition is APM,” said the official to Manta media when asked.