Since the Federal Government presented the Federal Housing Plan in July 2004, until the closure of a report by the General Audit Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish), which was approved on March 11 of this year, 94 of the 1643 houses that were planned for the province of Neuquén were built.

The Watchdog cited data from the under secretariat for Urban Development and National Housing, and stated that Neuquén had completed less than 6% of the total units to be made, compared to 49.2% in the rest of the country during the same period of analysis.

Beyond the "delays in the execution of the audited program", the distribution of the houses was not planned according to the housing demand of the neuquinos. According to the AGN, no units were assigned to half of the province's departments, which account for 23.3% of that demand. Likewise, there were localities that received more houses than they needed, as in Collón Curá, to the southeast, where they requested 45 houses and 85 were allocated.

The Federal Housing Construction Plan was implemented through an agreement signed on July 21, 2004 between the Federal Planning Ministry and the provincial governments. Neuquén was allocated $ 58.8 million to make 1400 houses of 49 square meters worth $ 42,000 each. Time later, the money increased to $ 80,669,200 as well as the number of planned housing, which climbed until 1643. When the AGN completed its report, in addition to the 94 houses already completed there were 1516 in execution and 33 were about to start.

In the 94 houses, the Audit detected "pathologies in the constructions", as "fissures in the joints of the ceiling and the masonry, detachment of plasters, badly placed veneer roofs - with notorious undulations," masonry with important fissures and Cracks." On the other hand, the gaps for the bathroom doors were "reduced" because, according to the carpentry sheets, they had to be 70 centimeters, but in the works it was verified that they reached the 59 centimeters without frame. The report also noted that "the safety and hygiene regulations stipulated in the general bases for the contracting of works of the Plan are not met" and exemplifies that on the sides of some houses ditches were observed, open to place service pipes, Without fences or warning tapes, which constitutes a "risk, both for the inhabitants and for those who work on the site."

Another irregularity of the houses is that the gas pipes were placed above the sanitary and light facilities and, according to the regulator of the gas, those pipes "will not be able to cross next to the shackles, in such a way that they are not constantly subject to the action of moisture. Also, they will be away from any electricity conductor."

The AGN notes that in the management of the plan, "neither the Provincial Public Works norms nor the ordinary mechanisms of control of the execution of the expenses were applied." In Neuquén, the agency responsible for carrying out the Federal Plan is the Sustainable Urban Development Agency (ADUS, for its acronym in Spanish). As this unit privileges the "private nature of the subjects of the contractual relationship (intermediate entity, construction company), it does not submit contracts and constructions to the regulations of the Provincial Law of Public Works", which, precisely, Enterprises undertaken by the province through entities of public good regardless of the origin of the funds that are invested. Thus, the provisions of the Neuquén Financial Administration Law are not complied with, which subjects the control of private individuals who receive public resources to the competence of their control agencies.

Since the Federal Plan came into effect, Neuquén applied the funds it received by granting mortgage loans for housing construction. This "modality" generated that the Audit could not accede to documents related to "the processes of bidding of the selected works; the state of physical and financial progress of the total works; the quotas for recovery of awarded housing; and the registration of beneficiaries and postulants."