On April 15, the Community of Madrid bought 53,000 FFP2 masks to Tower TBA, a company specialized in “audio systems”. The contract was closed through emergency processing without advertising by 189,183 euros with VAT, but when the supplier was preparing to deliver the batch, the authorities realized that it was a different model from the one they had initially been shown: “They did not withdraw because they were not even received. Directly they were not received for not complying with what was contracted. A type of mask is hired for which they provide testing units and then they do not deliver those, “they assure from the Ministry of the Presidency, responsible for the award.
The failed purchase was managed through the Agency for Digital Administration of the Community of Madrid. Tower TBA is a regular supplier of this institution in terms of audiovisual devices, and in March of this year, it delivered 110 mushrooms with speaker and 215 webcam to the mentioned agency for 42,573 euros. The masks, however, did not appear in their catalog until the coronavirus crisis arrived: “At a time when there was a very serious shortage of masks, had them. The supplier was the one who offered the masks, “they affirm from the Presidency.” They were for the use of their technicians, who often have to go to other work centers, including health centers. “
The idea was to buy enough masks “until the end of the year” for the agency’s technicians, but when the delivery occurred, the Ministry found that they had changed their model: “When the contracted material was delivered, we proceeded to compare with the previous supplier sample and it was verified that it was of a different quality, so that the delivered material was not received and it was returned to the supplier. “Instead of requesting a new batch, the Presidency then opted to reverse the award:” The procedures have begun timely for the resolution of the contract by mutual agreement and without compensation or penalties for any of the parties. When these procedures are completed, it will be reported to the Governing Council and will be published in the contractor’s profile. “
As this medium has verified, Tower TBA, in addition to this contract, also appears in 12 others published on the Public Procurement Portal. In most of them the acquisition of speakers, webcams, projector lamps, screens and other audiovisual accessories is agreed, but no supply is sanitary. This newspaper has contacted the company several times and as of the publication of this article, there has been no official response.
What is known so far of the masks distributed by the Community of Madrid
This medium has tried to locate the contract through which the purchase of these masks was agreed, but, according to a CAM spokesperson, the contract has not yet been published.
This is not an isolated episode. Another purchase that has raised controversy has been that of the 14 million masks that the CAM has distributed throughout the autonomous community. In the distribution of this material, it was evident that the information that appears on the packaging was deficient. As previously reported by this medium, the European certificates of approval of the masks were false. And recently, the Institute for Safety and Health at Work (INSST), at the request of the FACUA association, demonstrated that the filter of these masks allows 40% of the smallest drops to pass. This would mean that the masks that are being distributed to the population are not FFP2, since they only let between 8 and 6% of the particles pass.
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