审计长：水务局两份逾960万美元合同缺岗位分析

On August 20, 2026, the Comptroller of Puerto Rico, CPA and Attorney Carmen Vega Fournier, published Audit Report OC-27-24 on the Aqueducts and Sewers Authority, Customer Service Offices, Water Recovery (ORA), and Unbilled Water Recovery (ORANF). The period examined is from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2024. This batch note is assigned to September 8, 2026 —a Monday covering the institutional report, still in effect and with no new OCPR statement that day in the window— and clearly states it: a press conference of September 8 is not being faked. The official document is read in a fortnight in which the AAA is under drought, protest, and managerial conflict.

The audit carries a qualified opinion and mentions two significant findings regarding contracting and the management of professional services. The report details that the AAA granted two contracts totaling more than $9.6 million for revenue optimization services, pressure management, leak detection, and operational support, without the required analysis to determine if those services corresponded to regular position functions. The text from the file consultation (OC-27-24, August 14, 2026, in the viewer) specifies $9,672,950 for two contracts formalized on July 1 and 5, 2022, and an amendment on June 29, 2023, that increased the ORANF contract by $425,000. Contractual obligation ≠ full disbursement shown here as theft. Price amendment ≠ crime.

Part of the hired staff performed functions similar to positions in the Classification and Compensation Plan, and even worked hours equivalent to regular employees, which, according to the Comptroller, violates the applicable regulations. Some contractors stayed between 4 and 16 years, a “typical characteristic of regular positions and not of professional service contracts.” Long tenure ≠ conviction. Formalization deficiency ≠ criminal accusation. According to the statement and the documents that convey it, the AAA did not carry out economic analyses that justified the convenience of hiring externally.

The second finding is the absence of technical knowledge transfer to the Authority's staff, despite the contract of July 5, 2022 establishing that obligation for pressure management, leak detection, and essential tasks. The evaluation revealed that the director of the ORA — an AAA employee — was the one training the contracted staff, from the moment the contractor began providing those services. Several services were repetitive and not specialized, and could be performed by trained government personnel. Dependence on the contractor ≠ “theft” of $9.6 million. Loss of institutional capacity ≠ missing funds.

The management of the AAA presented comments defending the necessity of the contracts and their compliance; the findings prevail because, says OCPR, the evidence showed significant deficiencies in evaluation, approval, and administration. The recommendations go to the Governing Board, the executive president, and the Human Resources director. Comptroller's recommendation ≠ court order. Management's comment ≠ defense.

In a week in which legislators and communities are calling for a change of president, OC-27-24 provides the internal control file, not a verdict on González Delgado (who is not the chronological object of the 2020–2024 period in its entirety). A four-year audit ≠ portrait of a single executive. Finding of hiring ≠ cause for automatic removal.

Institutional primary: OCPR publication page of OC-27-24. Hub: Comptroller. Topic: corruption (contract auditing, not a criminal case opened in this source). Cousin: null. Press verification (El Vocero, Ey Boricua) was used to cross-check figures, not as the batch URL.

Close: $9.6 million / $9,672,950; +$425,000 amendment; 4–16 years; two findings; qualified opinion; July 1, 2020–June 30, 2024; lot reading September 8, 2026.

This note from Borinquen adheres to the cited primary source: it does not invent figures, does not turn an argument into a ruling, does not treat a budgetary obligation as a disbursement nor an accusation as a conviction. Obligated ≠ disbursed ≠ theft. Interdict ≠ final judgment. Audit with findings ≠ criminal conviction. Request for funds ≠ Board authorization. Signed contract ≠ measured hydrological or electrical outcome. Figures of clients without service are snapshots from a portal or a report, not a census of duration. Where the primary source remains silent on a number, this text also remains silent.