MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine government delays ‘lapidary’ report on the trains’ system

AGN head Leandro Despouy, “there was no need to wait”

With its strategic majority in Argentina’s National Auditing Office, AGN, the government of President Cristina Fernandez delegates managed to delay for two days a most critical report on the situation of the country’s train system and particularly the Sarmiento line involved in an accident which killed 51 passengers and injured 703.

The report had long been announced for Wednesday even before last week’s tragic accident in one of downtown Buenos Aires busiest train terminals. The contents are described as damning and lapidary for Trenes de Buenos Aires, TBA, which has the concessions of the Sarmiento and Mitre lines.

The four government delegates, who make a majority at AGN, requested an additional two days to consider the report with greater detail, given “the decisive information AGN could provide to public opinion and to the magistrate of the case.

However the head of AGN, Leandro Despouy has insisted there was no need to delay the debate on the report, “there’s no need to wait”.

“The government delegates argued that we shouldn’t precipitate the situation and some other political considerations, linked to the fact that there could be some ‘over-acting’ from my side”, said Despouy.
“I trust that the report which we have elaborated is complete, well founded and in depth, and will be approved next Friday afternoon following its discussion”, added Despouy.

However Despouy in spite of not revealing details of the report said that the last edition dating back to 2008 had some descriptions of the situation and management of the TBA trains system which was lapidary.

“And with time things have not changed, rather they have worsened” and reality has shown a list of incidents and accidents involving the management of TBA.

The AGN document has been elaborated with info from the Argentine Transport Regulation National Commission, reports from TBA and from other government offices and companies.