Although it sounds paradoxical, the Regulating Dam Safety Agency (ORSEP, for its acronym in Spanish) has an office that seems to be a danger in itself.

According to a report from the General Audit Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish) in Cipoletti-Rio Negro runs the Documentation Centre Prize, under the ORSEP, who "suffers" emergency signal, in fact there weren’t posters indicating exits, nor is there a fire prevention system.

As if that were not enough, the AGN added that at the time of the investigation, "the burden of expired fire extinguishers and their location was incorrect." To understand the magnitude of its observation, the same technicians of the Audit completed: "It is noteworthy that the materials (which are in the office) are highly flammable both in quantity and quality."

However, there was another peculiarity of the Documentation Center of Cipoletti that caught the attention of the audit. The text says: "Failed to obtain a technical evaluation of the structural capacity of the archive rooms (demonstrating) if it supports the significant of its facilities. This was evidenced by noting that there are numerous high-rise shelves and densely loaded."

Sophistry

The AGN analyzed several aspects of the functioning of ORSEP; nearly six years after the last research dedicated to being and was duly reflected in this way (see The Auditor.info).
One of these edges was the accounting issue. In that sense, it is clarified that the body has two sources of funding. The first arises from the agreements signed with provinces and institutions to provide technical assistance on what is supposed to be their specialty, security.
The AGN wanted to know details about this method of collection and from the ORSEP was reported that in 2011 the income from agreements had amounted to $ 298,100. The problem was that this amount differed from that was recorded and released by the accounting area for that year: $ 159,315.

For more -in fact- for less, the General Accounting Office received a third number, which was eventually turned over to the Investment Account 2011. In that document, where all state accounting movements appear, income ORSEP Conventions amount to $0.

The other source of income is the Canon body it charges the 13 concessionaires hydroelectric developments. For this concept, ORSEP perceived $ 11,997,785.50 in 2011.

The Auditors compared this data with the accounting records and found that there "does not include payments for several months in hydroelectric different, which itself was found the existence of the respective receipts (disbursements)."

Also, "double payments in one month" were observed, and, as it warned the income Conventions in Canon concept also agreed values expressed with which finally to the National Accounts reported to the Investment Account 2011.

For all this, the report concludes that "the procedure of registration, accounting and control of resources ORSEP is deficient and inconsistent".

Sanctions

Of the 70 dams in the country, the ORSEP has jurisdiction over 31 that are franchised by 13 operators and distributed in four regions (North, Cuyo and Center, Comahue and Patagonia).

How to determine how much is the fee to be paid by concessionaires emerges from the affidavits that have the same operators. This methodology is expressed in a resolution of ORSEP itself, which however is silent on sanctions to be applied in case of defaults.

On this, the AGN observed that "of the 13 hydroelectric concessions nine months have all sworn declaration following the model set", while the remaining four reported some data, but not regarding the tax model.

However, the audit says that "ORSEP has not intimated" to the concessionaires to regularize their position, and even validates the information provided by operators on the amounts deposited by canon, although it is their main source of income.

Someone Asks For Safety

In its report, the AGN lets another pearl: "The ORSEP has not developed during the Internal Emergency Plan (PIDE, for its acronym in Spanish) Unit of the Presidency."

The PIDE (or ASK) is a protocol that should be kept updated and exercised to ensure that all the body knows how to deal with any crisis.

As mentioned, the headquarters of ORSEP never developed a corresponding ASK, something the four regional offices did do.

Other Liabilities

Under current legislation, the ORSEP is bound to raise annual reports on the state of dams, reservoirs and auxiliary and complementary to the Ministry of Public Works (SOP) of the Ministry of Federal Planning.
However, the auditors found that the agency "does not rise in a timely manner" these surveys, and there is no record that the SOP has claimed.

The issue was not there because, with the goal of advancing research, the AGN almost accidentally triggered that ORSEP fulfill its obligation. It is that, for details on these reports, the auditors requested the same Ministry of Public Works, which, at that, orders them as urgent due to the Agency for Dams. Only then was it possible to access information for the period 1999-2011.

What about Security?

The ORSEP exists within the so-called General Security Process Control Dam, which is the development of monthly and annual reports from checks and inspections hidroelectromechanic Testing Equipment. These data should be dumped in three forms, supposedly with a format already established.

However, the AGN delegations stressed that the agency "did not follow standard criteria" to fill out the forms, and expanded: "The information (poured in documents) lack of uniformity / homogeneity between regional that- difficult tasks follow from the Presidency or the Internal Audit Unit ORSEP."

That procedure also states that must be filed every December a plan for control activities for the coming year. In this case, the Audit maintains regional offices themselves delivering their projections, although "in different ways, incomplete and unclear" because the armed governing documents "have no specified format"; a situation that ultimately "makes the control tasks more difficult" like tracking and management.

Moreover, these differences are apparent in another aspect; it is that as the central office "has not developed a computer system that records all the tasks of supervision and control of dams under its jurisdiction", each delegation used its own methodology. For example, the AGN lists "the Regional Patagonia uses a software provided by ORSEP SIADOC; Cuyo-Centro Regional (does) through Excel spreadsheets type, and the North Regional, a database (other than SIADOC) to load notes and monthly reports."

Disorder and Responsiveness

In the report adopted in 2008 by the AGN it was warned about the difficulties in the organizational structure of ORSEP. As in recent research, this observation again, but now has expanded.
The text says: "The Company has not yet established the organizational structure and the coordination between the various Regional Offices and the Presidency is not dynamic or flexible. The organization is still a pending task, considering that the Agency was created in 1999 (also) remains a high degree of disorder within its internal structure."

And adds: "In conclusion, the internal structure of the organism is confusing."

Returning to this survey six years ago, the Audit had left seated about 18 observations related to various aspects of the management body. Already in the report adopted in May of this year it warns that nine "have been corrected," which led to the AGN to conclude that "both the Department of Public Works as the ORSEP show a median responsiveness to the recommendations made in a timely manner.