The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, assured this Wednesday that he does not have in mind to order more dismissals related to the Koldo scheme, after having dismissed the general secretary of State Ports, Álvaro Sánchez de Manzanares, but details that he will make decisions as the the case is clarified. "I have already said many times that I only put my hand in the fire for myself," Puente stated before the media, who stressed that he maintains confidence in all other positions related to his Ministry.
The minister has detailed that the dismissal of Sánchez de Manzanares occurred after anti-fraud requested information from State Ports about the purchase of masks from the company investigated in the Koldo case. The until now secretary general of the organization was the one who sent a response that "did not respond to the reality of the facts," said the head of Transportation when explaining the reasons for the dismissal that he announced on Tuesday.
The dismissal occurred due to the lack of honesty in that response, but it does not judge the involvement of Sánchez de Manzanares in the processing of the purchase of masks, Puente has maintained. "We do not prejudge or say that this man has a relationship with the contract that makes him responsible or guilty of anything, but in our opinion he has had behavior that has made us lose confidence, and that is why we have dismissed him," he said. affirmed.
Regarding the possibility that Sánchez de Manzanares collaborated with another person from State Ports in the behavior that led to his dismissal, the minister has assured that "the issue is clearly delimited" to the hitherto general secretary. "At this moment I have no reason to dismiss any other person. If I had one, which I already say and I am not closed to it, we will proceed to dismiss. We are not going to dismiss people without justification," he added in reference to others. Transport related charges.
The audit that the Ministry has launched to clarify what happened will take "as much time as it needs," said Puente, who assures that he does not have any type of information about an investigation that has "an independent nature."
The minister has also referred to Joseba García, brother of Koldo García, former advisor to former minister José Luis Ábalos at the center of the alleged plot of illegal commissions in the purchase of masks during the pandemic. Joseba García continues to work at Emfesa, a company dependent on Adif, and the minister has indicated that the report he has on him confirms that "there is no cause for dismissal" to end that employment relationship because he is only being investigated and has not been convicted. and because "the facts that are attributed to him have nothing to do with the task he performs."
"We cannot do that. Consult with any labor lawyer. This man is being investigated, he has not even been convicted," Puente alleged, giving as an example that if a businessman catches a worker stealing in his company, he cannot fire him. until he is convicted or unless there are "precautionary measures that could allow that decision." Puente has indicated that the facts attributed to Joseba García "have nothing to do with the task he performs", that the report "is absolutely categorical" and that since there is no cause for dismissal, "we cannot fire him." "The abnormal thing is that there being no cause for dismissal, we fired him," he added.
