A report from the General Audit Office of the City of Buenos Aires (AGCBA, for its acronym in Spanish) indicates that almost half of the restorations planned in the cultural centers of the city of Buenos Aires for the period 2006-2007 were not executed, and that in the works that were set in motion. There were incomplete works, projects made with accessibility and security deficiencies, and delays of more than a thousand days.

In 2006, the Buenos Aires Ministry of Culture had planned to execute 40 works and, according to the Watchdog, there were 21 that did not start (52.5%). The following year, in part, the restorations had to be 33," but stopped at 14 (42%)," the report said.

During the preparation of its work, approved this year, the Audit examined nine restorations that took place in the Recoleta Cultural Center, the San Martín Theater, the Planetarium, the Perlotti Museum and the 25 de Mayo Cinema, among other City centers. In that survey, the agency observed that "100% of the sample analyzed presented significant delays."

The report makes a difference between the works that already had a provisional receipt, which record an average delay of 437 days, and those that were running at the time of the visits, which in some cases exceeded a thousand days of delay.

Of the first group, the remodeling of the 7th and 8th floors of the San Martín Theater, which according to the works contract, was to be ready in 240 days and took 762 days; And two works at the Centro Cultural Recoleta that had a four-month deadline: the arrangement of the entrance hall Patio de los Naranjos and Calle de los Tilos - took 500 days - and the processing chamber, which was delayed 871 days.

On the other hand, the second group includes the remodeling of the May 25 Cinema, which was scheduled in 240 days, and when it was visited by the auditors already registered a delay of 1,079 days; The arrangements in the Perlotti Museum, calculated in 300 days and with a delay of 1.006 days; And the waterproofing of roofs and replacement of exterior coatings of the San Martin, which had already exceeded the limit imposed by the contract in 707 days.

The AGCBA affirms that the delays impacted the price of remodeling. So much, that in the case of works that already had provisional reception, had to pay $ 933,405.63 more than anticipated (see chart). In addition, in eight of the nine controlled parts, it was discovered that the Ministry of Culture did not sanction the recorded delays, not even those that exceeded the extensions granted to the contractors.

Beyond the delays, the Watchdog also stated that, in eight arrangements, the projects were made up of "deficiencies", such as non-compliance with Law 962, which refers to "physical accessibility for all," and in seven Cases "additional work not in the original projects were carried out."

Likewise, in six studies there were other deficiencies. At the Recoleta Cultural Center, for example, the access door to the transformer chamber opens inwards, "breaching the current regulations, which establishes that it must be opened outwards," the report says. It was also observed that the anteroom of the place "is used as a deposit with disused materials, several of them flammable", and, at the same time, do not have the required firewalls for such an area. The Audit added that the Center "is not provided with an evacuation plan, adequate signage or equipment for cases of casualties."

At the 25 de Mayo Cinema, the engine room that runs the air conditioning is not isolated acoustically and there are leaks in the subsoil, punctually, in the middle of Mendoza street, stairway sector.

The AGCBA argues that, in the Cunill Cabanellas Hall, the dressing room doors "open inwards," which represents an "obstacle to the evacuation of the premises", and the work on cement slab lying "presents very obvious patches. Their joints were not made neatly and the floor is noticeably deteriorated."

A cherry on top. The Galileo Galilei Planetarium installed a cold / heat conditioning system that, according to the Audit, could not be put into operation "due to deficiencies in the gas installation that were not taken into account during the project's elaboration, which is why the company Metrogas did not grant the corresponding rating for its operation." The Watchdog adds that "the electrical installation of the building is obsolete, have no evacuation plan and, on one route, it was found that mandatory (evacuation) circulations are obstructed with furniture and non-regulatory constructions."