AUDITING: THE SINS OF THE

CURRENT MODEL

Joandris Paternina
Liliana Martínez
Jairo Anaya
The controller is the guardian of infrastructure and deserves another vision on
the way these firms are hired, example:

 In some contracts with the state, the payments or checks that are made to
intervening firms are tied to the advance of the construction, even though
they are not the one the builders.

 Another aspect that is necessary to improve is related with the method how
the value of the auditing contract is calculated.
The recent experiences of some projects like Hidroituango, the Chirajara bridge, the Bogotá-
Villavicencio road, and the Hisgaura bridge, has shown that better mechanisms for the selection
of contractors in charge of construction, design and intervention are required.

“A manner to strengthen this selection process is involving

internationally recognized experts during the process of
choosing auditing proponents”, explains the professor of the
University of La Sabana, Orlando Arroyo.
 Another way to improve this scheme, Arroyo adds, is creating a specialized in
engineering and national commission, conformed by academy experts and qualified
engineers of recognized experience, to be consultants of the important decisions in
big infrastructure projects in the country.

But for Freddy Alberto Reyes, a civil engineer of the Javeriana University, it isn’t
just to create a commission, the big point is that these professionals have the
adequate time to study these projects.

“Certainly there are problems that can be attributed to the audit, the vast majority of them evident in the
current poor state of many sections of this work. However, these problems are a reflection of an even
more worrisome situation: in Colombia we do not have a legal framework that guarantees the choice of
technically, financially and ethically qualified builders and interveners for our 4G infrastructure works,
"says Arroyo.

As a lesson, the experts recommend that, due to the troubles that came
out with the Ruta del Sol II, and other roads and bridges previously
mentioned, we must make a stop and build a better auditing of
buildings system.