Public contracting in San Andres has become the focus of a national controversy after President Abelardo de la Espriella confronted Governor Girley Natacha Ordoñez Bowie and Representative Elizabeth Jay-Pang Diaz during a visit to the islands. He alleged that businessman Norbert Vonblon Pomare, Jay-Pang’s husband, was behind contracting at the Governor’s Office. Public records document Vonblon’s business activity and several contracts associated with his name. They provide a basis for further scrutiny, but do not establish for now, that he controlled a contracting network or committed a crime.
San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina form a Colombian archipelago in the western Caribbean. The department’s government manages local services and public funds, while the national government also provides resources and oversight. Ordoñez leads the department’s executive administration; Jay-Pang represents the islands in Colombia’s House of Representatives.
For those who do not know, Jay-Pang is a social communicator and journalist who worked in local media and in the Governor’s Office press office before entering public administration.
She later served as the department’s tourism secretary and directed the regional office of Colombia’s National Training Service, SENA, for 14 years. She has served multiple terms in the House. Her career and political influence are relevant context, but do not establish that she or her husband improperly influenced government contracts.
A “contracting carousel” refers to an alleged recurring scheme in which public contracts or funds are steered to favored interests. Establishing that such a scheme existed would require evidence about how procurement decisions were made, who benefited, and whether the rules were breached. The records described here raise questions for investigators, but do not resolve them.
San Andres contracting: the president’s allegations and the public contract record
The confrontation took place on Oct. 18, during De la Espriella’s visit to San Andres amid the national government’s intervention at the Departmental Hospital. Addressing Jay-Pang, he said: “The whole island knows your husband is behind the Governor’s Office contracting, ma’am.” He also referred to “your husband’s business dealings” and to events at Coralina, the archipelago’s environmental authority.
De la Espriella pledged to protect public money sent to the islands. “The resources I send are resources no one will touch,” he said, adding that he would use his authority “to make sure not one peso is lost.” He did not provide a list of specific contracts or documents showing how Vonblon had allegedly intervened in procurement. The Presidential Transparency Secretariat later requested coordinated action by the Inspector General, the Comptroller General and the Attorney General’s Office to investigate possible corruption networks in the department.
A review of state records cited by the news outlet Semana identified four contracts directly associated with Vonblon between 2018 and 2024, with a reported combined value of US$541,454 (approximately COP 1.709 billion). The largest transaction described in the review was US$538,608 (approximately COP 1.7 billion) for a property in the Coral Palace building.
According to information reported by SECOP, the Governor’s Office planned to acquire the property for a stormwater sewer project in District 4. The overall contract was valued at US$2.218 million (approximately COP 7 billion), making the payment to Vonblon 24.29% of the total.
SECOP, Colombia’s Electronic Public Procurement System, publishes information about contracts funded with public money. Its newer platform also allows government entities and suppliers to manage procurement processes online. The system can help identify contracts, but a complete assessment may require reviewing the underlying file, including the agency’s justifications, amendments, payments, and performance reports.
The Coral Palace transaction involved direct contracting, a legal method that Colombian entities may use in specified circumstances. Its use does not, on its own, prove favoritism or corruption. Assessing whether the transaction was proper would require examining the legal basis for the acquisition, the property’s valuation and ownership history, the selection rationale, and the payment documentation.
A separate public contract dates to 2016, when Vonblon was selected to carry out work at Magic Garden, San Andres’ landfill. The contract covered hauling, preparation, and compaction of ordinary and plant waste. Its final value was US$348,507 (approximately COP 1.1 billion), and the record says it was liquidated after normal completion. This establishes that Vonblon held a public contract related to landfill operations; it does not show that he or his companies controlled the facility.
Business registry information places Josef Concretes Ltda. in San Andres from 2005, indicating about 21 years of activity in the island market. That history does not mean the company held public contracts throughout that period or directed the archipelago’s procurement, but the Attorney General’s Office has reported active investigations into alleged corruption in San Andrés, including proceedings involving former governors.
Those cases are separate from the recent allegations against Vonblon; the records cited here do not establish that he has been formally charged or found liable in connection with them, although Abelardo de La Espriella has been clear that he will now closely trace how resources and contracting are being managed.
The controversy has unfolded alongside a crisis at the Departmental Hospital. The National Health Superintendency ordered a one-year administrative intervention after identifying problems with services, finances, and management. Those findings underscore the need for scrutiny of public spending, but do not identify who caused the problems or establish that funds were diverted to a public official’s relative.
Vonblon’s businesses and the Magic Garden contract
Reports associate Vonblon with companies in the construction sector, including Josef Concretes Ltda., Agregados NVP S.A.S. and Efficient Buildings S.A.S. Josef Concretes produces and supplies concrete, while Agregados NVP is associated with the sale of construction materials. Businesses in these sectors may serve private customers as well as contractors working on public projects, where materials, transport, and machinery are often needed.
Jay-Pang has said her husband’s hardware business has no contracts with the Governor’s Office and that contractors are free to buy materials or rent machinery from it.
That statement can be checked against company and procurement records. If a private business supplied a government contractor, investigators could examine who made the purchase, what was supplied, the prices paid, and whether the parties had relevant connections. A supplier’s participation in the market is not, by itself, evidence that it received a public award or influenced who won one.
Magic Garden is the landfill where San Andres’ solid waste is received and managed. With limited land available for disposal, collection, transport, and waste processing are essential public services. The 2016 contract in Vonblon’s name covered hauling, preparing, and compacting ordinary and plant waste.
Its value alone does not demonstrate overpricing, so a full review would require the bidding documents, information about competing bidders, supervision and acceptance reports, invoices, payments, and comparisons with the work required.
Other contracts connected to Magic Garden should not be attributed to Vonblon without evidence. For example, records describe agreements between the Governor’s Office and the Archipelago Energy Company, EEDAS, to oversee the landfill concession.
A concession is a long-term arrangement in which a public authority authorizes a company to operate a service or facility under agreed terms. The EEDAS agreements covered technical, financial, legal, and environmental monitoring; they were separate from Vonblon’s 2016 waste-handling contract.
Available reporting describes Josef Concretes as a producer and supplier of concrete and construction materials. The records cited here do not establish for now that the company operated Magic Garden or carried out Vonblon’s landfill contract. That contract was listed in his name and concerned hauling and compacting waste.
The connection between business and island politics predates the current controversy. In 2019, the Colombian digital outlet La Silla Vacia described Vonblon as a former member of Gallardismo, a political current associated with former San Andres congressman Julio Gallardo Archbold and his local network.
The outlet also identified Vonblon as a major funder of his wife’s campaign. This reporting provides context about his political activity but does not prove improper influence.
Any such finding would require evidence, such as procurement decisions, corporate ties, conflict-of-interest disclosures, or communications between decision-makers and beneficiaries. Procedures that might start to take place under De La Espriella’s administration.
Company names also matter when reviewing procurement records. Josef Concretes Ltda. is the registered corporate name cited in reporting, while “Josef’s Concrete” appears in media coverage. For each procurement, investigators would need to establish whether a company bid, received an award, signed a contract, delivered goods or services, and complied with the terms. A company’s line of business alone cannot answer those questions.
Jay-Pang and Ordoñez respond as scrutiny grows under De La Espriella’s Government
Jay-Pang rejected De la Espriella’s allegations, calling them “another falsehood, another slander.” She described her husband as a business owner who creates jobs, denied that his hardware store had contracts with the Governor’s Office and said contractors could purchase supplies or rent equipment from the business.
She also urged the president to investigate and hear her account. Her statements can be compared with procurement documents, company filings and any findings by oversight agencies.
The representative said she had supported the intervention at the Departmental Hospital and had repeatedly sought national government assistance with medical care, delayed payments and access to medicines. She argued that the president had been misinformed and attributed the confrontation to political tensions.
Speaking about her influence in the archipelago, she said: “I have the Governor’s Office, five assembly members, the mayor and the youngest council member in the country in Providencia.” The remark speaks to her political reach; it does not establish control over departmental contracts.
Ordoñez called for information to be checked with officials who lead institutions and understand local conditions. She said she took office on July 11 after a special election and that some contracts for the current budget year had already been executed or committed before her arrival.
Acknowledging concerns about public investment, she said: “Indeed, the investment is not reflected in the territory. That is a reality anyone can see.” She also said Coralina is autonomous and that oversight agencies should investigate if evidence exists.
A separate episode involving Jay-Pang’s parliamentary credentials has also drawn attention. In March 2022, public broadcaster Teleislas reported that Vonblon collected the document certifying his wife’s election to the House while she was in Bogota.
He said she had designated him to receive it on her behalf. The credential belonged to Jay-Pang; Vonblon did not become a member of Congress or acquire parliamentary powers. Teleislas reported the delegation, not an investigation or sanction for misuse of the document.
The allegations now place several records before oversight agencies: The contracts linked directly to Vonblon between 2018 and 2024, the 2016 Magic Garden agreement, and the documents surrounding the Coral Palace property acquisition.
A transparent review of how those contracts were awarded, what was delivered, and where the money went would give residents a clearer account of the island’s public spending and allow investigators to determine whether anyone should be held accountable.