The legal confrontation between the mayor of Cartagena, Dumek Turbay, and the city’s water company, Aguas de Cartagena (Acuacar), has just reached the office of the Attorney General Gregorio Eljach.
Less than a month ago, the local leader announced the breaking of institutional relations between the District and the public services company, amid citizen complaints about rationing, service cuts, low pressure, and water with sediments in different parts of the city. And in the process, he filed a popular action against the company operating the service. Now, EL TIEMPO has exclusively established that it is the public services company that has just taken measures.
Judge and party?
This newspaper exclusively learned of a recusal document that lawyers Jaime Lombana and Mónica León, representatives of Aguas de Cartagena, have just filed against Turbay and the general secretary of the mayor’s office, María Patricia Porras Mendoza.
In the document, which was sent to the local leader, it is requested that the General Secretary of the city and the mayor be removed from the sanctioning process against the company for alleged breach of the contract for the comprehensive management of water and sewerage services dated June 20, 1995.
According to the representatives, the leader and his secretary have a clear conflict of interest that prevents them from acting impartially.
The legal reason: Turbay represents the District, which owns 50 percent of Acuacar’s shares and appoints members of the Board of Directors of the public services company, which creates a ‘judge and party’ scenario.
In fact, it is claimed that it was Turbay who delegated to the general secretary the authority to carry out a sanctioning process against the company.
Additionally, the recusal points out that even Porras Mendoza was appointed a member and president of Acuacar’s Board of Directors and has participated in meetings where the same issues that have been the basis for the sanctioning process were analyzed.
In that case, it specifically refers to water loss, collection, investments, execution of an addendum, and other management indicators.
The request
In the recusal, Acuacar’s representatives state that after the secretary’s participation in key meetings, the sanctioning procedure on those same issues discussed was initiated, which could be understood as a sign of the official’s impartiality.
Therefore, Acuacar’s representatives request that the General Secretary and the mayor state within 5 days whether they accept the invoked impediments.
Furthermore, if they do not, the file should be sent to the Attorney General’s Office to decide on the recusal and the sanctioning procedure should be completely suspended while the incident is resolved.
It is also requested that Turbay refrain from receiving by referral, resolving, guiding, promoting, deciding, or intervening in any way in the sanctioning procedure, as well as from resolving the recusal of the general secretary, as he is also recused.
And that Porras Mendoza refrain from carrying out, conducting evidence, evaluating it, or deciding any action related to the contractual sanctioning procedure until the recusal is decided by the competent authority.
(Consult all articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit here)
EL TIEMPO called Mayor Turbay to learn his position on the recusal, but by the time of this edition’s closing, he had not responded.
The one who did respond was Secretary Porras Mendoza, who stated that she is not yet aware of the recusal request: “I cannot comment on what I do not yet know.”
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
u.investigativa@eltiempo.com
@UinvestigativaET
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