Mismanagement, inflated estimates, overpayments and other financial irregularities have been laid at the door of Lisbon Câmara over its management of Gebalis.
Gebalis, a câmara-run and managed company, is responsible for the management of various Lisbon neighbourhoods in terms of social housing and linked services.
According to a report carried out by a special commission created by the PSD officer for social housing, Sérgio Lipari Pinto, handed to the exchequer audit commission last week, Gebalis gave contracts to particular companies for budgets “well over the current market value of the works being carried out.”
The commission that drew up the report had monitored and evaluated the efficiency of the company and had formulated recommendations on the control of its spending and prices.
Contracts had been awarded at the detriment of former proposals that had been much cheaper and in line with market prices, but had been cancelled and annulled.
The report found that Gebalis authorised on more than one occasion, two proposals for the same work “with two distinct prices” choosing the higher, while ignoring proposals from outside companies or, when the price exceeded competitors, scaled down the price accordingly.
Sometimes higher prices were put through the books, while expenses for the lower estimate were used without the project being altered to justify the difference in price.
Budgets
The report highlighted that someone was benefiting from inaccurate budgets and pocketing that difference.
The commission revealed that 150,000 euros was overcharged for works from adjustment contracts “whose details were not checked or monitored” and were only annotated by the initials of the President of the Board of Directors of Gebalis and an engineer “recommending payment”.
The latest scandal to rock Lisbon Câmara, already heavily in debt by over 100 million euros, could spell the end for the presidency of Carmona Rodrigues.
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