“This is the first crucial step by the City Council to monitor certain situations,” stated João Teixeira Leite.
The initiative is part of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and includes the implementation of a regulatory program featuring a code of conduct, whistleblowing channels, and internal training sessions.
The document identifies numerous risk scenarios in areas including public procurement, local support, grant allocation, construction and urban planning management, vehicle use, human resources, and financial management.
The documentation, which was reviewed by the agency, highlights several critical issues such as improper participation in decisions involving personal interests, lack of clear criteria in aid allocation, abuse of public resources, irregularities in payments and invoice control, breaches of confidentiality, favoritism towards suppliers or candidates, and information security vulnerabilities, like phishing attacks.
In response to these issues, the document proposes measures including staff rotation to prevent prolonged close relationships, segregation of duties in sensitive processes, establishment of objective criteria for decisions on subsidies and aid, mandatory declarations of integrity for critical processes, investment in cybersecurity through training and enhancement of systems, a supplier database tracking performance history, and more stringent control of stocks, fleets, and overtime.
“It’s an important step to introduce transparency, monitoring, and combat behaviors that, fortunately, do not exist in our council today,” emphasized João Teixeira Leite.
Conversely, Chega councilor, who voted against the document, termed the plan’s approval as “hypocrisy.”
“What actually happens in the Santarém Council is profound hypocrisy. The council grants extraordinary subsidies weekly without regulation. The executive wants to convey to the public that we are combating corruption when, in reality, granting extraordinary subsidies without regulation is what leads to corruption,” stated Manuela Estêvão.
The document is set to be presented to the Municipal Assembly today.
