Comptroller's Office of Cartagena requested that the manager of Transcaribe be be suspended from office

The watchdog indicated that he must be out of office until the investigations being carried out into his appointment to the direction of the public transport system in the capital of Bolivar are completed

Guardar

The controversy in the heroic city does not cease after the appointment of María Claudia Peñas to the head of Transcaribe, the public transport system of that Caribbean population, after the District Comptroller's Office initiated a process of fiscal responsibility at the end of January of this year, by which they are also requesting that it be suspended of office.

Caracol Radio reported that the watchdog carried out the petition to the board of directors of the transport entity and that the mayor of Cartagena, William Dau, presides over.

As the investigation formally begins this week into non-compliance with the requirements to obtain the position, the Comptroller's Office is looking for her not to perform duties until the end of the process, they reported on RCN Radio.

“I want to make it clear that this is done at the request of an executive at the level of the District Comptroller's Office to which I find a hold, which has a legal and constitutional basis, therefore I give it viability and the request is made for the immediate suspension of Dr. María Claudia Peñas so that the process is carried out from the better way,” said the district comptroller of Cartagena, Rafael Castillo.

The official warned that if the person under investigation was not removed from office, in the mayor's office of the heroic city they would be immersed in disciplinary offenses.

“What is required of the mayor is immediately, he could incur a disciplinary offense, if he suddenly assumes not to carry out the request. He was notified this morning of the decision I made on the request of the Director of Fiscal Responsibility, which was on Friday, March 11. I would believe that he (Dau) would be speaking today or at the latest tomorrow,” Castillo added.

According to the watchdog, Peñas Arana did not meet the requirements to be elected to the post, after the process began following complaints by Councilman Javier Julio Bejarano and activist Jacqueline Perea.

The process for administrative finding with fiscal incidence and administrative finding with disciplinary impact involves Cartagena's mayor, William Dau; Transcaribe's manager, María Claudia Peñas, and Néstor José Monterrosa López, legal adviser to Transcaribe.

Likewise, the Comptroller's Office quantified a capital damage of 60 million pesos, which the official received from August 13 to November 30, 2021, when the monthly salary of the Transcaribe management was certified.

According to local media, the Comptroller's Office points out that “there was an alleged violation of the law and the Transcaribe statutes when an alternate manager was elected for not complying with the requirements for the position, that is, he was not the right person to hold that position, which caused alleged damage to public assets, leading to alleged disciplinary and fiscal implications”.

Cristina Mendoza Buelvas, Coordinator of Participatory Fiscal Control of the Comptroller's Office, quoted in local media, said that she is also committed to the responsibility of the members of the Transcaribe Board of Directors, since they would have incurred a disciplinary fault in choosing the then alternate manager, despite not having the requirements of law to hold office.

This latest administrative finding is based, as cited by local media, on that “the conduct committed by the members of the Transcaribe Board of Directors in the extraordinary sessions of number of minutes: 168, 169 and 174 in 2021, may result in alleged disciplinary misconduct for failure to comply with responsibility subjective consideration of public servants with regard to the review of the requirements for electing Alternate and/or Principal Manager of Transcaribe S.A.”

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