Global Courant 2023-04-28 14:00:40
Of the 9,000 units that circulate in the Province, 900 have cameras connected to the surveillance center. It is not yet known who killed Daniel Barrientos.
The case for the murder of the driver of line 620 of La Matanza, Daniel Barrientos (62), no longer has detainees. The investigation into the assault against Sergio Berni is not advancing either. And there were no new contributions on the alleged “maneuvers” of opposition sectors to generate destabilization that Axel Kicillof denounced, after the crime.
Of that episode that caused public commotion and an institutional shock, only the announcement of the Buenos Aires government to comply with the installation of monitoring systems in the groups that work in the suburbs remains standing. There were two emergency meetings in the Governor’s Office and the creation of a “follow-up commission” for that measure.
Twenty-three days after the murder of Barrientos, only 10% of the buses that travel through the suburbs have cameras connected to a surveillance center in their cabins.
As Clarín was able to verify in consultations with the cameras of the sector, the union of drivers and official sources, until this Thursday the placement of 900 “kits” (made up of video cameras, plus the chips that allow online broadcasting) had been completed. of the images to a remote point) in public transport.
Daniel Barrientos, the bus driver murdered in a robbery in Virrey del Pino
According to the records of the Ministry of Transport of the Province, 9,000 units that belong to the almost 600 lines that cross sections within the municipalities, between different cities and between Provinces travel through the streets of the more than 30 municipalities that make up the AMBA. and Federal Capital.
A little more than three weeks after the violent assault on the bus that Barrientos was driving for Virrey del Pino, in La Matanza, the authorities told this newspaper that “there are another 980 computers installed, but without an internet transmission device (chip).”
The officials said that they are calling the businessmen to “intimidate” them to install the device that allows the transmission of the data that is captured in the cabins. “Some are reluctant to accept that the films go directly to the monitoring center of Puente 12. They intend to manage these images to have internal operating controls,” Transport spokespersons said.
Attack on Minister Berni during the protest of the bus drivers for the crime in Barrientos. Photo Maxi Failla
They also reported that “another 2,000 complete packages are available, ready for placement and are being delivered.” They say in the Government that in the next few days the rate of installation will be “120 per day.”
Latest data provided by the Province: this week ending, 2,500 of these security mechanisms entered that were released from Customs. Near the office of Minister Jorge D’Onofrio they trust that “before the end of the year” all urban transport units will be in order. “We decided that to approve the VTV they have to have the cameras with a chip. Otherwise they will not be able to circulate ”, they argued.
When the bus drivers’ protest over the death of their colleague broke out, in La Plata they explained that there was a delay in placing the equipment due to “problems with the importation” of the devices.
Even though the Kicillof government acknowledged that it gave transport businessmen 2,500 million pesos to buy cameras and equipment. They were granted by the government as of resolution 509/2021 of the Ministry of Infrastructure to comply with Law 14,897. This norm, sanctioned in 2017, requires the installation of these surveillance systems throughout the province.
Only 900 of the 9,000 buses that circulate in the Province have security cameras connected to the monitoring center.
When Barrientos was killed there were between 1,500 and 1,800 groups with cameras. But “only 24 reported to the control center,” admitted official sources. The impact of the case sped up the installation process.
The bus tragedy ignited the GBA transport safety debate and had a strong impact on politics. Even from the provincial ruling party they took this controversy to the Courts. The Minister of Justice, Julio Alak filed a complaint for the attack against Berni. This led to a violent and controversial arrest of two bus drivers in their homes, with a “shock” police brigade, in the middle of the night.
Both were released 24 hours later. According to the investigation carried out by the Buenos Aires prosecutor Carlos Fel Romero, there are 10 identified protesters who would have attacked the official. They will not be stopped. They will be mentioned in the file. They are expected to be dismissed.
The only two arrested for the crime were released
On Tuesday, Alex Gabriel Barone, 19, and Gabriel Alejando Barone, 24, the two arrested for the Barrientos crime, were released. The La Matanza prosecutor’s office did not request preventive detention, although they will continue to be accused in the case. No elements were found to link them to the homicide.
Controls in the buses hours after the crime of the driver Barrientos in La Matanza. Photo Federico Imas
After that decision, the General Prosecutor of La Matanza removed prosecutor Gastón Duplaá -in charge of the case since its inception- and ordered that it remain in the hands of Carlos Adrián Arribas. It is assumed that they seek to print another speed to the investigation.
And Kicillof’s public denunciation of the alleged participation of opposition politicians -such as Patricia Bullrich, president of the PRO on leave- in the incidents that resulted from the assault could not prosper either. The governor did not present evidence of these alleged maneuvers. And the data that he provided to support the hypothesis of the “armed attack” (that there was a “command” type action; that it was “unpublished” and that there was a car that cut in front of the bus) were denied by the witnesses who testified in the files.
The Silver. correspondent
MG