The Engineering Consulting Firm for Integrated Solutions (CISI) was fined MXN$5 million by Mexico’s Water Commission (CONAGUA) for the faulty piece known as the inverted "K,” which was supposed to optimize the Cutzamala water system in Mexico City last November .
For the installation of the piece, CONAGUA had to cut off the water supply in 13 delegations for more than 150 hours , resulting in a MXN$500 million loss and an unsuccessful maintenance operation.
In a press conference, Blanca Jiménez Cisneros, general director of CONAGUA , explained that during the previous administration, the internal control body of the federal commission had ordered an audit for the investigation of the piece defect.
“The company was fined five million pesos since before the new administration came into force. We are currently revising the latest agreement so that the fine is paid in full,” she stated.
From October 31 to November 8 , the water supply was cut off for the installation of the “inverted K” piece, which was meant to connect four supply pipes at the Cutzamala water system.
The director reminded that the Ministry of Public Service and the internal control body would continue to investigate irregularities in the public contracting for the installation of the piece , as well as in other contracts signed by CONAGUA.
Jiménez Cisneros added that there would be no more water outages for maintenance operations at the Cutzamala System , since experts were able to conduct a technical analysis by which they determined that this type of operation can be made without cutting the water supply.
“A detailed analysis has been made to determine that there are ways in which we can conduct this type of repair without cutting the city’s water supply; it is indeed technically possible. And in case more repairs need to be made, this is how we will operate. This doesn’t mean, however, that the system may not be subject to unforeseen flaws .” she stressed.
Eduardo Seldner Ávila, assistant manager of CONAGUA
, explained that the previous administration had determined the amount of the penalty and notified the company of the fine on November 30.
“Those MXN$5 million are basically meant to cover the piece installation costs. Although the inverted “K” piece cost more than MXN$20 million in itself , the cost of installation, which is where things went sour, was of MXN$5 million.
The assistant manager commented that the maintenance works in Cutzamala would continue. “The idea is to finish the maintenance operations during the first quarter of 2019, and we will continue to work in this area so that this type of installation failure doesn’t happen again.”
Blanca Jiménez Cisneros pointed out that CONAGUA’s budget for 2019 was of 33 billion pesos , distributed in different areas. Furthermore, the new administration will prioritize 212 marginalized municipalities in Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Guerrero.
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