After the search ordered by Justice in the Ministry of Transportation of the Province of Buenos Aires, within the framework of an investigation for alleged irregularities in the implementation of radars and photomults, the Chamber of Control and Administration companies of Transit Infractions of the Argentine Republic (Cecaitra) went out to refuse versions and defended the legality of all the equipment installed in Buenos Aires routes and municipalities.
“All radars are duly enabled,” the entity said through an official statement released in recent hours. Cecaitra, which brings together the main software and road technology supplies in the country, stressed that the speed measurement devices that have been provided to both the provincial administration and the municipalities attached to the road safety network comply with the current technical and legal regulations.
The reaction of the Chamber arrives in response to the media and judicial escalation that involves the management of the Minister of Transportation Jorge D’Onofrio, an official close to massism, accused of alleged anomalies in the process of authorization and inspection of infractions. The cause, driven from a complaint of a private supplier in 2023, aims to clarify if there were irregularities in the installation and operation of cinemometers, commonly known as radars, which could have resulted in invalid sanctions.
As part of the judicial process, the Federal Justice requested documentation from Cecaitra and other entities to analyze the technical, contractual and administrative framework behind the fines for speeding in Buenos Aires. The Chamber reported that it has already delivered the required information and expressed its willingness to fully collaborate with the investigation.
“It seems correct that any possible irregularity is investigated. What we cannot allow is to try to sow unfounded suspicions about the system, when there are actors with particular interests that seek to take political or economic benefit,” they said from the entity.
The system
In his discharge, Cecaitra also reviewed the origin of the electronic control system in the province of Buenos Aires. The participation of the Chamber in the field began in 2007, after the declaration of the road emergency by the provincial government, before the increase of fatal accidents on routes. That year, the Buenos Aires Executive signed a direct contract with Cecaitra for the provision of 180 cinemometers (140 fixed and 40 mobiles), considering that no local company had the technical and logistics capacity to face such deployment.
In later years, the Chamber was awarded various maintenance, repair, infractions and equipment reinstatement contracts. In 2010, an expansion process began to the municipalities, with tripartite agreements that added local governments and public universities, such as the UTN, to the speed control system.
The structure was consolidated during the following provincial efforts, both with tenders and with framework agreements. In 2021, under the current administration, the province resolved to delegate to the municipalities the tasks of maintenance, repair and technological update of the teams, leaving only the processing, judgment and collection of infractions through the SACIT system.
The dispute
The controversy around photomults is not new. Throughout the last years, both in the province and in other jurisdictions of the country, different sectors have questioned the use of radars as a collection tool rather than as an instrument of prevention. The legality of the equipment, the previous signage, the authorization of the INTI and the respect of the due process for the collection of infractions are some of the sensitive points that have been judicialized in various opportunities.
In this new chapter, the cause that involves D’Onofrio and its environment could reconfigure the road control scheme in Buenos Aires. From Cecaitra they notice that they do not oppose any institutional review, but they reject that the legality of a system that, they assure, has contributed to reduce the accident rate on the provincial routes.
“Road safety is a collective work. Actually, sooner rather than later, it always comes to light,” concludes the statement, in which they also invite the technical history and agreements in force in the official site of the Chamber: www.cecaitra.org.ar.
