The construction of housing for the most vulnerable sectors, in turn promoting the participation of beneficiaries is a complex activity because it has to respond to the needs of the population served. It is not only a question of quality constructions at the best possible prices, but also that actions must be developed to compensate for the lack of several of the recipients of the works: efforts to support the ownership of land and finished homes; connections to services in a timely manner; Houses adapted to future family groups owners, work crews to which all their labor rights are respected.

This new report on the Shared Dreams Program, prepared by the General Audit Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish), detailed serious irregularities in all aspects mentioned: in constructions, in the payment of workers social charges, in the management of money and its lack of controls. It is not the first case in which an audit detects surcharges in social housing. Already the control body of Buenos Aires years ago when it indicated that in the City the square meter of the social houses more expensive than the one of the luxurious ones.

The work of the national audit has some extra condiments that were ultimately those that transcended it: the Madre de Plaza de Mayo Foundation, presided over by Hebe de Bonafini, as a distributor of the funds and the Shocklender brothers involved in a case for defrauding. Behind the media, the same background that everyone seems to forget: the most vulnerable sectors.

The Shared Dreams Mission Program of the Mothers Foundation of Plaza de Mayo is in charge of "housing construction, public works of social interest, infrastructure and equipment". One of the most striking observations made by the AGN on social houses is that "in 76.92% of the works the value of the square meter exceeded that fixed by Techo Digno." For example, in the construction of the Barrio Santa Sylvina in Chaco "the cost was exceeded by 41.92%."

With the exception of Barrio Travesía de Rosario, "housing design was not made according to the characteristics of the family groups for those who it was for." Meanwhile the homes built for the disabled "turned out to be a third less than what was established in agreement".

A technical data on the Executing Unit is that in principle it was the under secretariat of Urban Development and Housing but that later it was replaced by the one of Public Works without an administrative act that endorses the transfer of responsibilities. In fact, "the audit team could not have in sight the documentation that supports the convenience of change."

Regarding construction, "the National Executing Units granted the Technical Non-Objection to the requests for works relieved by the audit, despite the fact that they did not meet requirements such as studies of environmental impact, non-flooding and soil." Neither "was the relevant municipal procedures completed nor were some controls detected by these Units."

The auditors verified "inconsistencies" with respect to the premises where the works were located. This is the case of the Barrios Travesía del Rosario and El Garrote de Tigre that had "domain" problems. The first one, "the authorization for the use of the site occurred one year after the beginning of the tasks". In the Buenos Aires municipality, until March 20th 2012, when the auditors visited the site, "the transfer of the property had not been perfected, so it was still in the process of being purchased."

In El Garrote, the AGN also found that "finished homes could not be delivered because of the lack of infrastructure links to water, sewer or gas services. This not only prevents a residential solution to the neighbors but, because they are not inhabited, it poses as a risk the possibility of being taken or deteriorated".

In the Crossing of the Rosary, "deficiencies were found in the rainfall of the common courtyards, reason why the water sieves underneath the bleacher and it commits to all the construction". There were also "leaks inside the houses and deficiencies in the plasters that in the future possibly cause fissures and cracks of difficult resolution."

The sample, that is to say the selection of works that were going to be evaluated to make the report, elaborated between the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Accounts of the Congress and the AGN. A remarkable fact is that when looking at who govern the jurisdictions that were audited, plurality is total. Other figures include Santa Sylvina in Chaco, Barrio Travesía in Santa Fe, El Garrote in Tigre, Villa 15 in the City of Buenos Aires and the Barrio del Carmen in Santiago del Estero.

The report states that "in 23% of the works the physical location of the neighborhood that was planned to be urbanized was not respected despite being one of the main objectives of the Federal Program of Urbanization of Villas and Settlements."

About the Workers

It is alarming that the Mother of Plaza de Mayo Foundation has "failed to comply with the obligations of payment of contributions and contributions of Social Security" before the AFIP, "a situation that could constitute a criminal offense" and that "it was not Denounced by the organisms that must control it ".

In order for the Foundation to be in place the AFIP "granted a facility plan in 108 installments for a total amount of almost $ 147 million" due July 2012. Despite the assistance received by the public revenue watchdog, the entity presided over by Bonafini "did not regularize its situation." The total debt, with the corresponding fines and compensatory interest calculated by the AGN, as of February 2013 was $237 million.

Even more serious is that "not only did it fail to meet the central objective of projects financed by the National Government to provide workers with legal employment, in order to aim at social integration", but that non-payment of Social security shows "weaknesses in the protection of the worker in accordance with Article 14 bis of the National Constitution."

Hand in Funds

The National Audit found "payments of $ 225,000 to public officials at the national and provincial levels who were to monitor the efforts made by the Foundation." The beneficiaries include the former president of the City's Housing Institute and current adviser to the Undersecretary of Public Works of the Nation, Claudio Freidin and the former president of the National Institute of Housing in Santiago del Estero, Daniel Nasif.

The Foundation also made payments to legal entities whose activities, according to AFIP data, are not related to the management of works. The recipients "were 405 companies among which there are agricultural, mutual, cooperative, stock market and financial." In a first endorsement, this conglomerate received an amount of almost $ 123 million. Taking into account that the amount transferred to Cementos Avellaneda SA, a company related to the construction, was $ 62 million, the figure is more relevant.

In sum, the amounts invested in companies not related to the works represent 19.82% of the total funds that the Mothers Foundation received to execute in the construction of houses through the Shared Dreams Program. The National Government transferred to the Foundation Mothers of Plaza de Mayo $ 765 million.

The payments mentioned above are those made to natural and legal persons investigated in the criminal case entitled "Shoklender Sergio and others on fraud against the Public Administration." Of all of them, from the available information, the AGN "could not establish the origin".

Sergio Mauricio Shocklender $ 23,189,924.06
Pablo Guillermo Shocklender $ 13,334,540.00
MELDOREK S.A. $ 4,010,409.40
ANTARTICA ARGENTINA S.A. $ 3,736,300.00
IPTICKET S.R.L. $ 3.503.896,26
PASART S.R.L. $ 1,324,887.73
Alejandro Gotkin $ 994,040.35
Monetization $ 678,040.06
The list goes on and totals $ 52 million.

More with more, less
 
• The construction of houses was awarded to the Plaza de Mayo Mothers Foundation directly, without valid legal support.

• Transfers had two phases: the first was from the national government to the provincial or municipal government and the second, from these to the bank accounts of the Foundation as a construction company. Except for the Municipality of Rosario, all the jurisdictions were delayed in the accountability. Despite this, the National Executing Unit did not encourage any claim for the amounts not rendered.

• The authenticity of the signature of the representatives of the Neighborhood Association was questioned by the agreement on the financing of the work in Castañares, in the City of Buenos Aires.
 
• When the financial closures were made, inconsistencies were detected that were not questioned by the Secretariat of Public Works
 
• In the works of the Chaco National Government funds were used to cancel unauthorized concepts
 
• The Ministry of Public Works took three months to respond to the AGN with the requested documentation, the Secretariat of Employment took five and the AFIP between two and six months, as was stated a long time ago in The Auditor.info.