A member of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives is asking the commonwealth’s comptroller’s office to review a $2.4 million contract between the Puerto Rico Public Private Partnerships Authority and law firm Mayer Brown LLP, saying a conflict of interest exists regarding the proposed privatization of Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
“So far, that’s the step we’re taking,” Mario Pabon, a spokesman for Rep. Charlie Hernández, said late Friday afternoon. “We just found this information while reviewing the contract.” Pabon also said Hernández is considering an appeal to the Office of Government Ethics.
Hernández said Chicago-based Mayer Brown has had relationships with bidders participating in the request for qualifications, including Macquarie Group, Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (OMA) and Advent International Corp.
In response, P3 authority executive director David Alvarez said late Friday that Mayer Brown is not in conflict of interest.
“[The firm] is not providing advice regarding the P3 project to any of the companies interested in participating in the project’s competitive process,” Alvarez said in a statement.
Alvarez also said Mayer Brown’s team advising the government does not have Macquarie Capital as a client. “At present there is no contractual relationship between Mayer Brown’s team of counsel and Macquarie Capital’s infrastructure investment division,” he said.
He added that the selection of Mayer Brown took place through a competitive process.
Hernández last month accused government officials of a “serious conflict of interest,” citing the $1.2 million of consulting contracts Macquarie already has with the commonwealth to develop guidelines for the P3 Authority.
The authority immediately denied any conflict, in a statement on its website.
“These projects always have some subplot with some politician getting into it. We are talking all the steps necessary to protect the public,” Alvarez said in a recent interview with The Bond Buyer.
Twelve consortiums are competing for a concession of up to 50 years to run the Caribbean’s biggest airport, LMM, which sits outside San Juan.
It is part of a Federal Aviation Administration pilot program.
