Arturo Sánchez Jiménez
La Jornada Newspaper
Saturday, November 2, 2024, p. 8
Unjustified or improper payments, works in which it was not proven that certain tests were carried out, poor quality work and lack of application of penalties to suppliers who breached contracts, are some of the irregularities detected by the Superior Audit of the Federation (ASF) in five hydraulic projects of the National Water Commission (Conagua) that total 354 million pesos of possible effects on the treasury, according to the audit of the 2023 Public Account.
The reviewed works, which were carried out during the government of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador when Germán Martínez Santoyo was director of Conagua, are the Yaqui Aqueduct and the expansion of Irrigation District 018 of the Yaqui town, both in Sonora, the construction of the El Cuchillo II Aqueduct, in Nuevo León, the rehabilitation and modernization of the Calakmul Supply, in Campeche, and the Baluarte-Presidio project, Santa María Dam, in Sinaloa.
It is in this last construction where most of the irregularities are concentrated, since the ASF determined an amount of 220 million pesos whose destination must be clarified.
The audits, whose results are not definitive since Conagua can still resolve the observations made during the inspection, resulted in nine actions for the Promotion of Sanctionary Administrative Responsibility – which the ASF issues and communicates to the agency’s Internal Control Body so that initiate the corresponding investigations – as well as 18 sheets of observations – legal instruments with which the ASF informs the reviewed entities that alleged damage to public finances was determined.
In the case of the Baluarte-Presidio project, Santa María Dam, in which 7 thousand 645 million pesos were spent, the ASF detected, among other anomalies, that excess payments of 124 million 139 thousand pesos were made, since payments were credited Gravel-sand bank loan royalties
and Rock Bank Loan Royalties
for the exploitation, extraction and use considered in the integration of the unit price matrices in three work contracts.
In addition, it detected excess payments of 85 million 861 thousand pesos because the x-ray tests of welds and anti-corrosion coating on the pipes were not accredited.
Likewise, it found that Conagua did not apply conventional penalties for 13 million 324 thousand pesos in three work contracts, for failure to comply with the contractual termination dates in accordance with the agreed execution programs.
In the El Cuchillo II Aqueduct, in which resources of 5,650 million pesos were used, the ASF detected that poor quality work was carried out, since water leaks were observed in the walls and areas with humidity in the Plant. Pumping 0. It also found that excess payments of 38 million 816 thousand pesos were made for air freight of materials. Similar irregularities were found in the other projects.
