It Was Detected That the Acumar Does Not Include Clauses "To Improve Transparency" Of Its Conventions
<p style="text-align:justify">It is collaborative commitments that the entity signed with universities and municipalities affected by the Riachuelo’s pollution. According to a report by the AGN, in the records, there are no expenses and no support time logs between expenditures and receipts. In addition, there are missing contracts governing the employment of workers.</p>
A report from the General Audit Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish) states that the agreements that the Authority Matanza-Riachuelo Basin (Acumar) signed with universities and municipalities lack clauses "to improve transparency" and that in the same contracts it was detected a "failure to comply with the procedures of accountability."
With regard to the latter point, the Watchdog said that in the records of cooperation with municipalities to advance sanitation "no expenses amounts disbursed opportunely support" and that, on the contrary, "it made future compensation.”
This was the case, for example, corresponding to "Cleanup Program Margins of the Riachuelo," in which "for the months of January, February and March certificates were sent to the Acumar dated June 7, 2013" states the audit. And also, the study of agreements of other "irregularities" emerged as the "gap between expenditures and receipts were presented."
In addition, research passed last year on 2013 data, adds that "in the records analyzed the lack of minutes of completion of work and rendering of final accounts was evident."
The AGN explained that the contracts have "formal" issues, such as the signing of agreements after the start of the activity in question. The same happened with the extension of Section III of the aforementioned Cleanup Margins Program in that -if something was missing- "differences were detected in the accountabilities, municipalities that were late, missing minutes of completion of work and renditions of final accounts," being approved the disbursement of money "for a simple memo."
To complete the analysis, the Watchdog added that the commitments signed with municipalities, the Acumar "does not solicit contracts governing the employment relationship" of workers who are part of the agreement, and that in those folders do not appear "records registration at national, provincial and other taxes.”
On the side of the agreements with universities, the "lack of uniformity in the inclusion of the Annex where accountabilities are instrumented" was detected. For example, in the subscribed link with the National Technological University, this section was included, but signed with the Faculty of Engineering of La Plata but does not contain within its provisions a procedure to that effect.