One of the biggest mistakes was to subcontract the most important services to its partners.

The concession of management of four international airports to the company InterAirports has become big business for the partners, but not for the company itself, which is having financial problems.

Or so says Raúl Torres Lazo, a partner and former president of the company who has reduced his shares in the company from 10 percent to 4.7 percent.

This reduction in his shares represents 500,000 dollars, which the company refuses to repay him due to financial problems and the failure to negotiate with the financing body that holds InterAirport's 10 million dollar guarantee to Honduras of completion of the contract.

Torres Lazo, who had to take his claim all the way to the National Industry Association (ANDI) to find someone with the authority to protect his rights, said that he once believed that the company's policies were different.

Torres Lazo in an interview with the newspaper TIEMPO said that one of the biggest mistakes made by InterAirports was intentional-that of subcontracting the most important services to its partners.
By subcontracting the services, said Torres Lazo, the majority of partners lost interest in the company's profits because they were earning their profits individually.

The subcontract he mentioned was that to SERLIPSA (Pacific Coast Services), a partner in InterAirports who received charge of managing airport customs for merchandise entering the country through the airports or through the Port of Cortés destined for Tegucigalpa.

According to Torres Lazo, the lack of transparency is not only a problem in the subcontracts but in the agreement that SERLIPSA is only obligated to pay InterAirports 13 percent of its total income.
An analysis by ANDI found that in the case of SERLIPSA that State was only receiving five lempiras of every 100 charged by the company, when they should be receiving 40 lempiras.

Torre Lazo said that in addition to giving the contract to SERLIPSA, InterAirports continued to favor two other member partners, Calmaquip and Suárez Acosta, by giving them plans for urgent renovations in the four airports.

He reported that these companies fixed a price of 23 million dollars without making the bidding public, which would have surely solicited a price no higher than 17 million dollars.
The contract for management of the airports was made for 750,000 dollars to San Francisco Honduras, but the original commitment was with the San Francisco International Airport, said Torres Lazo.

Another company, PAE, received the contract for fire control and maintenance, and Torres Lazo said he did not see any problem with that particular case.

Of the seven companies that comprise InterAirports, the two that were left out of the subcontracts were InterOceánica de S. de R.L. Honduras and Corporación de Inversiones, both of which were created by the Torres Lazo family to participate in the business.
According to Torres Lazo, he understood that, once the pieces of the company were distributed, he would not have to do anything more with InterAirports and that is why he decided not to participate in raising more capital when they asked him.

He said that the fairest thing InterAirports could do was return the 500,000 dollars for the reduction of his shares, but instead the company is inventing excuses for not fulfilling its commitment.

Fines

According to ANDI, the more than 200,000 fine applied against InterAirports could hasten the break in the contract with the government. ANDI continues to insist that the business was a fiasco for Honduras.

Secrets
ANDI has evidence that governmental functionaries have met in secret with representatives of InterAirports to look for a solution to the series of noncompliance problems with the company. But these efforts have been in vain because of the company's financial problems.

Source:
FREDY PERDOMO.
Diario Tiempo, domingo 11 de mayo del 2003.
http://www.tiempo.hn/edicante/2003/mayo/may11/NACION~1/NACIONAL.HTM