“The audit concluded that none of these subcontracts entered into by the consortium companies received written authorization from the other companies, thereby violating clause six, number six of the contract,” states the Court of Auditors (TdC).
The court highlights that although the Regional Secretariat for Equipment and Infrastructures warned the consortium about the situation, “it did not demand the regularization of the subcontracts through ratification, nor did it suspend or condition its acceptance.”
The TdC report specifies that by January 2024, the construction encompassed 33 first-level subcontracts totaling 13 million euros.
Additionally, the Court of Auditors explains that in the context of the second phase of the project, one of the largest ongoing public construction works in the country, the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP) submitted 13 co-financing requests to the Republic’s Government for the execution of the process, with approximately 15.8 million euros transferred by January 31, 2024, representing 50% of the invoices payable in 2023.
The contract was signed on October 6, 2022, after a public tender, with the consortium “Afavias/Tecnovia Madeira/Socicorreia/RIM,” at a price of 74.7 million euros, with completion scheduled for November 10, 2024 (a 720-day term).
According to the TdC, the contract underwent two objective modifications, the first of which involved extending the execution period by 121 days.
The audit report also reveals that at the end of January 2024, the physical execution of the second phase of the project stood at 35%, while financial execution amounted to 34.3 million euros, or 44.8% of the contractual price, adjusted for two partial work suppressions.
The Court of Auditors thus recommended the Regional Secretariat for Equipment and Infrastructures implement procedures to ensure “timely awareness of all changes to the agreement(s)” and to “exercise its technical, financial, and legal supervision powers, demanding the regularization of the subcontracts entered by the consortium companies.”
The project of the Madeira Central and University Hospital, which is expected to exceed the initially projected 350 million euros, including the acquisition of medical and hospital equipment, is funded by the autonomous region (50%) and the Portuguese State (50%), having commenced in 2021 and anticipated to conclude in 2028.
The new hospital unit, located in the parish of São Martinho, Funchal, spans an area of 172,000 square meters and will feature 607 beds, including 79 intensive care and 503 general inpatient beds, a parking lot with a capacity for nearly 1,200 vehicles, and a helipad.
The construction work currently involves 38 companies and approximately 500 workers.
