Public Purchase Process Creates Environment For Corruption, Economy Vice-Minister Says
In a report in today's edition of the daily Spanish language newspaper, La Nacíon, reporter Juan Fernando Lara, explains how a cellular phone, among other items, that has a value of ¢75.000 colones ends up costing the government ¢135.000, all due to bureaucracy .

Lara says that red tape in government operations for a simple purchase like ink for a printer can take up to a week to process, and that is using "petty cash" which is supposedly the fastest method for purchases.

Items like office supplies, computers and furniture, for example, can take weeks to process, which all adds to the cost of the item.

The data is part of a study that measures the time and money that is wasted by following guidelines and regulations for purchases. The study was done by the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio (MEIC) - ministry of economy, industry and commerce.

The study quantifies the direct cost that each regulation intervenes in the process of a purchase, items like timbres (tax stamps), tariffs and fees to formalize a document.

The analysis also measures the indirect costs, like the cost of time of the public functionaries working on the purchase and the management associated with the regulations governing purchases.

Isabel Araya, director of the Mejora Regulatoria y Reglamentación del MEIC, said that the length and the additional cost of each purchase is due to the rigidity of the regulations of the process that have to be followed.

Araya added that each government institution has a fund of ¢200.000 colones (us$386) to make cash purchases, however, any item costin between ¢25.000 and ¢200.000 requires a minimum of three competing prices. If the purchase is for more than ¢200.000 colones, then the process of a public bid must be observed.

Karen Artavia, administrative director of the MEIC, explained that in the case of the cellular phone purchase, the process took a week, but smaller purchases can take only a couple of days.

Artavia also explained that the purchase of a vehicle, for example, can take up to six months, which can easily raise the price of ¢5 millino colones (us$9.650) by as much as ¢1.2 million colones (us$2.300).

The viceministro de Economía (vice minister of Ecomony), Jorge Woodbridge, added that bureaucractic red tape becomes a "bottle neck" and promotes bad public services.

The lack of clear regulations, affirms Woodbridge, are bonded with excessive discretional powers of public service employees, who define their own rules and requirements.

Woodbridge added that this situation creates an environment for corruption.