translated from Spanish: “I was robbed”: Brother of Juan Cristóbal Guarello sues Icafal and MOP for appropriating Design Stadium ground champions

It was a dream they yearned for in Iquique. After the earthquake of 2014, his stadium “Land of Champions” suffered severe damage, so immediately began to look for someone to take care of the repairs. A tender was opened in the year 2016 and, a year later, the Constructora Icafal and the company of GuarelloArq Architects were awarded-together-the project for almost 24 billion of pesos.
Of that date, two years go and the stadium still cannot be used. The reason? A change in the direction of the project that set aside those who designed the new sports venue, the company of architects, which ended with a lawsuit filed in the 21st Civil Court of Santiago.
Fernando Guarello, executive director, told the counter the reasons for the lawsuit: “The bidding in question dates from the year 2016, labeled 819-4LR16, MOP DS 108. On September 21, 2017 was awarded the contract for almost 24 billion pesos. The next day I got out of the contract, they stayed with my project, they paid me nothing, they did not compensate me. ”
He added that “I am suing them for infringement of property, because they followed the contract with my project that we signed and it is not theirs. I was robbed of the project. ” The construction company is not the only defendant. Also the Ministry of Public Works of the region and its Directorate of Architecture-who endorsed this change-and the architect, Alberto Montealegre, who was appointed by Icafal as the new director of the project that GuarelloArq had designed.
Icafal is a well-known construction company, especially for its constructions and buildings in the mining world. In fact, three members of its board of directors belong to the Chilean Chamber of Construction: the civil Engineer Jorge Letelier, is its vice-president, Juan Enrique Ossa, is director of the Technology Development Corporation of the Chamber and Sergio Icaza, one of the Founders of Icafal, he is the head of the member’s Bylaws Commission. Only Letelier is mentioned, with name and surname, in the lawsuit presented by Guarello.
But in the opinion of different architects consulted, it is not so much in the world of buildings that are not related to mining. That’s why they abuse their status to capitalize on their word agreements.
According to Guarello and reaffirmed by his lawyer Paulina Nakouzi, the problem is that Icafal decided to change the architect, who is the main consultant of the project and responsible for the design, something that would not be new in the modus operandi of the builder.
Icafal and the MOP worked side by side in the remodeling of the stadium. GuarelloArq Architects climbed their plans to a server managed by the builder. After the breakup, the builder blocked access to these documents, but GuarelloArq was backed by everything he had designed and had been stolen by the defendants.
Model of the stadium Land of Champions. It was designed and financed by Fernando Guarello. It was presented by Icafal, not to mention the architect.
“Icafal has more than 100 prosecuted contracts. If you look at his Rut in the judiciary, have been sued by a lot of people, even by the municipality of Peñalolén, for the works of the velodrome, “said the architect. According to the page of the judiciary, since the year 2001 are 119 causes that has the builder and only this year, is already in 8.
Neither the contractors of the stadium have been able to stay away from the controversy, since Icafal did not pay them the agreed and these, in protest, crossed their trucks and implements in the entrance of the enclosure. They literally took the stadium.
At the time of the publication of this report, the justice ruled in favor of GuarelloArq, winning the preliminary demand. Meanwhile, the people of Iquique are still waiting for the conflict to be solved, since the final signing has to be Fernando Guarello. And as long as the lawsuit remains in progress, the stadium will be paralyzed.
After several attempts at the counter, Icafal did not want to refer to the situation.
 

Original source in Spanish