Among the reports that were analyzed were the construction of the Mataje bridge and the work on the Los Caras bridge after the earthquake.
The hiring for road construction during the Citizen Revolution shows recurring problems. The Comptroller presented a report after analyzing 35 reports of the special examinations to the award of roads carried out by the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP), from 2010 to 2020.
Poor asphalt quality, appearance of cracks or fissures in the wearing course are part of the problems that arise for irregularities in hiring, according to documents to which LA HORA had access.
The Comptroller found 263 findings in the 35 reports that served as a sample to make the report. There, five “recurring shortcomings” were observed in the administration of public resources destined for road infrastructure in the governments of Rafael Correa and Lenin Moreno. These are:
1.- Breach of contractual obligations by contractors.
2.- Shortcomings in the preparation of technical specifications and contract clauses.
3.- Incorrect calculation of values payable to contractors.
4.- Absence of complete, definitive and approved studies, prior to the start of the works.
5.- Failure to comply with the contractual obligations assumed by the MTOP.
The inspection registered trouble
Of the 263 findings made by the Comptroller, 111 contain this type of breach by contractors. The entity indicates that the breaches of the obligations occurred both in the contracts for the preparation of studies and designs and in the supervision and construction of works. All this translates into economic losses for the State.
The analysis of the reports made it possible to determine that the consultants hired to carry out the studies and designs of the works road infrastructure they did not deliver the products contemplated in the contracts in a timely mannerwhich delayed the start of work and caused the studies to be delivered out of date.
Regarding the irregularities in the control, the Comptroller’s Office indicates that the companies in charge of controlling they did not have adequate technical personnel to carry out the control tasks, they did not carefully review the progress and settlement of works, nor did they verify that the construction companies fulfill all their obligations in the construction of the roads. This is added to other works that have already presented irregularities.
These non-compliances caused the appearance of “cracks and fissures in the wearing coursespayments to construction companies without support for work poorly executed, fines not applied or collectedignorance of the real state of the works and full compliance with the technical specifications, pending payments, Works deteriorated and at risk of collapsing.
What reports were used to reach these conclusions?
Randomly, 35 reports on the following highways were chosen: Ambato-Guaranda; Chimbo-The Crystal; Loja-Zamora; Zhud-Cochancay; The Triumph, Guaranda; Las Herrerías-San Juan; Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje; Sigsig-Matanga-Chiguinda-Gualaquiza; Pifo – Papallacta; Tonchigüe-Galera-Bunche, among others. The Comptroller indicated that it is still in review the total damage to the State.
The audits carried out on the projects also concluded that the contractors did not comply with the work schedules and made “unjustified extensions”, without imposing the respective fines.
The materials used in the projects did not meet the technical specifications established in the contracts. The Comptroller concluded that this caused “premature road damage”. Many of the construction effects were not resolved by the companies in charge of its construction and generated economic damages for the MTOP.
The Mataje Bridge
The report takes into account the case of the construction of the 18.1 km highway. and the construction of the 68 meter bridge about him Mataje River, in Esmeraldas, which cost $12.9 million. The auditors left in writing that “the contractor was not required and controlled to present all the documents” that support the technical specifications of the materials used.
They were also not included in the sheets that demonstrate the quality of steel used, or resistance tests. The same thing happened with the documents of the welding procedures, nor the qualification of the welders. The lack of documentation, concluded the Comptroller, caused the State to cancel the contractor $1.7 million by “items that do not have sufficient supporting information”. Added to this are unjustified delays and the non-application of fines for $26,991.
the bridge the faces
The works of the emerging repair to the Los Caras bridge, of 1.9 km, which connects Bahia with San Vicente presented similar observations. The works, which cost $2 million and were carried out after the 2016 earthquake, presented “inconsistencies in designs, technical specifications, and prices of seismic isolators and large displacement joints.” This is revealed by a Comptroller’s report that was approved in 2021. Among other conclusions, it is detailed that a board was purchased “large displacement” without motivation.
