The INCAA and Its "Deficiencies" To Organize the Mar del Plata Film Festival
<p style="text-align:justify">According to the National Audit Office, the Institute recorded irregularities in the assembly and execution of its budget for 2007 and did not control the guests who attended the event with expenses paid. On the other hand, loans given directly were detected without bank intermediation, and inadequate technical conditions to manipulate the film heritage.</p>
A report from the General Office of the Nation (SIGEN, for its acronym in Spanish) indicates that "deficiencies in the elaboration and execution mechanisms" of the budget for the 2007 edition of the Mar del Plata Film Festival, organized by the National Film Institute and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA, for its acronym in Spanish).
The SIGEN says that the entity in charge of the event repeated irregularities observed in previous investigations, such as "generalized apartments" to the hiring system that "violate the basic principles of any purchase procedure". In addition, it was discovered that INCAA registered "deviations in the fulfillment of the Guest Regime" to Mar del Plata, which established guidelines to control the people who went to the Festival with all the expenses financed by the Institute itself.
Beyond the Festival, the Watchdog affirms that INCAA's annual shopping plan "does not fully contemplate the recruitment needs" that must be made and that, thus, there is a "general use of the contract extension mechanism" for services and there are "deviations in the application of the regulation of purchases and contracting in force."
"The Institute granted loans directly violating the rule that establishes the intermediation of a banking entity," says SIGEN. Likewise, in terms of loans, it was revealed that "exact details of the overdue and unpaid debt" of INCAA were lacking, and that there were also "delays" in the initiation of legal actions related to these loans. At the same time, the report adds that "there is no regular check on the status of lawsuits initiated" through Banco Nacion and that there are few controls on "portfolio management of loans granted through Banco Nacion and the Banco Patricios.
On the other hand, and despite the fact that the inspection body recognized an "improvement in the number of verifications" carried out by INCAA in cinematographic and video theaters, the percentage of inspections is "minimum" according to the number of spaces Of this type in the country.
The SIGEN report also states that the physical and technical conditions of the Institute to protect the film heritage are "deficient" and "lack of safety standards for material handling."
