Senate to vote on concessions transparency bill

Chile's senate is scheduled to vote on a bill agreement Tuesday that contains recommendations aimed at increasing transparency in the country's concessions system, the senate announced. Recommendations include a call for creating a concessions' regulator, establishing clear criteria to evaluate project costs and improving transparency of control mechanisms. The bill aims to prevent situations like the GATE-MOP corruption scandal that involved irregular payments by engineering and contracting firms to ministry employees. Last year, the comptroller general released findings of an audit that uncovered irregularities in regard to projects that had been put out to concession, questioning the regulatory responsibility of the ministry's concessions department. The comptroller highlighted the lack of procedure for the reception, delivery and destination of expropriated land and goods; inadequate project cost control and registration, and the lack of periodic inspection reports.