The spokespersons of Más Madrid, PSOE and Vox will participate this afternoon at 6pm in the traditional annual meeting of the opposition with the president of the Community of Madrid, at the Puerta del Sol. There they will present their ideas, proposals and demands to the regional government for the new school year. The main opposition party, Más Madrid, will propose to Isabel Díaz Ayuso to request an audit by the Court of Auditors “for all small contracts and calls for tenders for construction and renovation works of FP centers and community institutes between 2021 and 2023.”
The proposal refers to the case published by elDiario.es of eight schools built in violation of the Public Sector Contracting Act, which requires a public tender for works worth more than 40,000 euros. However, in Madrid, between 2021 and 2023, buildings worth more than two million euros were built – such as the Ciudad Esolar health centre – by cutting up invoices and awarding the works by hand, which prevented any inspection and escaped any economic and quality control. control.
The same thing happened at the Alcalá School of Art or at the Ignacio Ellacuría Distance Education Institute. The illegal practice was carried out in various territorial areas and with different companies, which indicates support for the idea that there was an order or approval from the Ministry at that time.
As published by elDiario.es, the prosecutor’s office is investigating two of the centers that have carried out works worth several million dollars (Ciudad Escolar and the Alcalá School of Art), after the Ministry of Education itself – now led by a new team – opened an investigation after receiving alerts and burofaxes from a builder who had not been paid for a job. Seeing signs of a crime related to corruption and embezzlement, it transferred the case to the prosecutor’s office, which is calling the managers and directors of the centers to testify.
The leader of Más Madrid, Manuela Bergerot, indicated to this media that the intention is for Ayuso to “give explanations about all these cut contracts and for the people of Madrid to know if the president knew about them.” At the time the illegal works took place – financed with funds from the institutes themselves and under the orders of a deputy director of the FP, now dismissed from his position – the Minister of Education was Enrique Ossorio, now president of the Assembly. His number two, and the one who directed educational policy, was Rocío Albert, now Ayuso’s Minister of Economy and Finance.
“Ayuso, Emilio Viciana – the current councilor – and Ossorio should appear in the Assembly and be held accountable so that the people of Madrid know if there are other hidden contracts,” Bergerot continues. In fact, in July, his party requested Viciana’s appearance, an initiative that won the support of the entire opposition, including Vox, but was stopped by the PP’s votes alone.
Regarding the dossier and the FP, Más Madrid will also ask the president this afternoon that all minor contracts be published on the public procurement portal within three months – in fact, many split contracts resulting from the FP scandal are not uploaded to the platform –, increase professional training in health by 10,000 places or eliminate registration fees for higher education.
