Last week the newspapers of the Vocento group explained that in the tendering of the school transportation services most of the trips of Gipuzkoa were awarded to the company of an advisor of the Department of Education. Fifteen of the 65 trips received by the transport company Urpa, was consulted by one of the company's managers, Joanes Labayen. Education counselor Jokin Bildarratz said the bid was "clean and transparent."
In Radio Euskadi he has been "surprised" by the suspicions of the awarding of companies. IU spokeswoman Miren Gorrotxategi asked lehendakari IƱigo Urkullu for explanations on the subject. Bildarratz has announced that he will also report to the Basque Parliament and that he has already made the request to appear.
He explains that seeing that most of the routes were empty, the Basque Government proposed at the end of July to the companies that made the routes last year, and most refused. Afterwards, the law firm Cuatrecasas was hired, "when all the bid was made", in August.
He adds that Urpa was offered for 30 routes, that only 15 were awarded and that in 12 of them no other companies competed. Labayen has 3.2% of all routes in the CAPV.
In addition, he underlines that the lawyer informed him that he had a transport company in Gipuzkoa, but that this was compatible with his advisory service, because what the Department of Education was asking for had nothing to do with the competition and with his company.