In 2012 the Management Unit of Social Intervention (UGIS, for its acronym in Spanish) spent $18,638,128 for 93 works of different kinds. Of that total, "77 works were made for a total of $ 12,966,163 under direct contract endorsed by Decree 556/2010". So says a report by the Auditor General of the City of Buenos Aires (AGCBA, for its acronym in Spanish) approved in November 2014.

Importantly, when purchases involve a large sum of money the Public Tender is the most transparent mechanism for choosing the supplier. Direct contracting, however, is often used in emergencies. 70% of the amount spent by the UGIS has been through the latter mechanism which suggests that it is a habit rather than an exception.

In 2012, the period audited by the AGCBA, "logistics service contract for pruning the months of April, May and June 2012 in the form of Decree 556/10, without meeting the requirements of the standard." In 2011 "it had started the bidding process under No. 401496/11 record to date of recruitment referred, still in the stage of development of specifications."

The unit in question was established in 2007 and since 2012 is under the purview of the Ministry of Habitat and Inclusion of the Ministry of Economic Development. It has among its objectives "formulate, implement and execute programs and housing plans in villages, settlements and shantytowns." It is also responsible for "organizing, executing and supervising works to improve habitat."

Some of the unit’s goals were "hiring truck rental services, machinery and services of urban hygiene and collection; the provision of potable water, sewage and electrical performance of works, reconstruction and repair of housing, among others".

For more heterogeneous than other activities, "the UGIS encompasses all services provided in a single unit of measure, without considering the particular characteristics of each." All are classified as "intervention."

For the AGCBA, "the unit of measurement used by the company is not correct to measure and assess the actions being undertaken."

By 2012, 22,140 were scheduled as urban interventions. At the end of the year, "52,332 were actually executed, i.e. 136% more than expected."

Population and Housing

One of the most striking observations made by the City Watchdog is that while the UGIS works exclusively with homes in slums and core-residential Transients (NHT) it does not use updated statistics of the population and households in them."

The agency will "present a statistical table showing that data of the census ranging from 1999 to 2007" although "it was available in the Directorate General of Statistics and Censuses of the Government of the City's version of 2010 which was up to date."

Work Cooperatives

In order to benefit the inhabitants of the towns, the UGIS signed various agreements with the Labor Unions. Sign is just a figure of speech because "there are no agreements with a signature certification and in one case, the Buenos Aires South Corporation, contained only one stamp stating 'knowledge' of its president."

Moreover, "payments for services rendered are performed on behalf of a cooperative” which “makes it impossible to find the actual remuneration that reaches the people in the shantytowns who participated and were beneficiaries of this money for tasks performed."