According to the plaintiffs, the municipal administration hired a collective of artists to create the murals at a cost of more than 1.3 billion pesos.
“The amount of $1,300,000,000 for the plastering of the World Cup tunnel mural and the irregularities in its contracting create deep concern. The Special Administrative Unit for the Management of Goods and Services awarded contract No. 4181.010.26.1.698-2023 to a natural person, without bidding or an open process that can guarantee transparency,” Murgueitio and Rodríguez stated in a statement.
For this reason, the elected Councilor of Cali and the Representative of Valle submitted a petition to the Office of the Mayor requesting that they explain in detail the administrative and legal procedures regarding the planning, design and selection of direct contracting in plastering the mural.
“We also request clear justifications for the value of the contract, including quotes, values and sketches of the mural, as well as supporting the need that drives this important investment,” the complainants stated in the document.
And in addition, they show that although they respect the work of the artists who participated in the implementation of the World Cup tunnel mural, they ask for “transparency in the acquisition and justifications of the planning and investment of $ 1,300,000,000 for this mural. The allegorical images of the 2021 national strike do not represent all the people of Cali and this important investment must include symbols and expressions that reflect ours.
According to the documents delivered by Murgueitio and Rodríguez, this contract was signed on September 29 to “provide artistic services for the plastering of the World Cup Tunnel, property of the District of Santiago de Cali, to ensure the comprehensive conservation of the public space. and influence the cultural and artistic expressions of the city.”
In addition, they stated that this link was signed by the Special Administrative Unit for the Management of Goods and Services, as a contractor, and Diego Fernando Salas as a contractor. The estimated time of delivery of the mural is agreed to be before November 30, 2023.
“This is a contract to provide services for 1.3 billion pesos, the budget needs are organized in the Acquisition Plan this year, but the technical support, I say, does not exist,” emphasized Juan Felipe Murgueitio.
Likewise, the elected Councilor of Cali indicated that “when we checked the service provision contract, we were referred to a letter, which says that the Ministry of Culture has issued a favorable opinion, regarding the profiles presented , but in the letter there is only one paragraph where he talks about the artists Diego Salas and Víctor Hugo González, who are part of the Pajaguar collective and have experience in graphic elements and exhibitions and participated in the contemporary graphic exhibition this year.
And he added: “We checked Secop to know their experience and we found a lot of murals referring to what happened in the national strike and when we checked their income, we saw that in the last years they charged an average which is 25 to 30 million pesos.”
Instead, Rafael Rodríguez specified that as part of this contract, a bidding process must be carried out. Well, according to the representative, “the most correct thing is to make a call with clear procedures.
In addition, he explained that “what worries us is that there is no socialization of the mural by anyone in the city. “They put the hand of resistance on the mural and that’s something that divides the people of Cali.”
Finally, it should be noted that the murals painted in the tunnel these days have been the target of criticism because of the images referring to the 2021 national strike, since many residents of Cali claim that these symbols does not represent all citizens.
