ONCE again, it is confirmed that the public contracting regime exists to facilitate waste of the resources that belong to everyone. The case of the Municipality of Panama, with a Spanish company that was directly contracted, validates criticism against the current system of public procurement that allows abuse of all types. As paper holds everything, the Panamanian government contracts with companies whose history and financial reality it doesn’t know. The parade of horrors of unfinished works and the tower of Babel addendums, in which hundreds of thousands of dollars are transformed into millions, which then turn into tens of millions to infinity, is still the usual practice of Panamanian bureaucracy. We continue to be held hostage by networks of influence peddling and manipulation, which have produced a country that finds it increasingly difficult to solve its problems and address the needs of its citizens. We remain incredulous before the explanations of our rulers, leaving us crying for the kidnapped country … hoyporhoy, La Prensa, Dec 12