Chilean municipalities spent over 210 billion pesos via emergency direct purchases

A report by Chile's Transparency Council (CPLT) has revealed that 325 municipalities spent more than 210 billion pesos (approximately $230 million USD) in 2024 through direct purchases under emergency or unforeseen circumstances. These municipalities issued 8,731 purchase orders, primarily for services related to waste management and the maintenance of green areas.

The CPLT's extraordinary audit, which analyzed data from the Public Procurement System, aimed to assess the transparency and information access of each municipality regarding these exceptional acquisitions. The report noted a significant concentration of spending, with 66% of the funds allocated to services like cleaning, waste collection, and green area upkeep. These are often considered essential services for citizens.

“

One of the main findings was the high concentration of spending: 66% of the resources were allocated to services associated with cleaning, waste collection, waste treatment, and maintenance of green areas, matters that in many cases are linked to the continuity of essential services for citizens.

The investigation also found that the ten largest purchase orders accounted for over 47 billion pesos, representing 22.5% of the total reviewed expenditure. All of these high-value orders were linked to waste collection, street sweeping, urban cleaning, green area maintenance, and waste transportation. The municipality of Rancagua recorded the single largest purchase, exceeding 9.9 billion pesos, for waste collection services.

“

all of them were associated with waste collection services, sweeping and urban cleaning, maintenance of green areas and waste transportation.

While the report acknowledges that regions like Biobío, Maule, Metropolitan, and Valparaíso faced natural events such as frontal systems and forest fires in 2024, which could justify the use of emergency clauses for service continuity, it also identified 85 purchase orders totaling over 1.5 billion pesos for events. These included costs for amplification, lighting, catering, accommodation, and artist fees for festivals and municipal celebrations.

CPLT President Natalia González emphasized that while emergencies require swift government responses, "that urgency cannot transform into an opaque zone." She stressed that transparency must be even more rigorous when exceptional procurement mechanisms are used, especially given the substantial public funds involved in services with a high impact on people's lives.

“

The emergencies require rapid responses from the State, but that urgency cannot be transformed into an opaque zone. When exceptional contracting mechanisms provided for in the law are used, transparency must be even more demanding. This is because we are talking about substantial public resources, invested in services with a high impact on people, which are contracted without the possibility of bidders competing on equal terms under the most convenient terms for the State.