From experience I would suggest that it's very likely they had a very clear idea of where the problems were and tried to solve them, but found that they were no

From experience I would suggest that it's very likely they had a very clear idea of where the problems were and tried to solve them, but found that they were not a priority upstream. It's still an absurd situation, but I doubt very much it's the result of apathy - or at the very least the result of apathy from your direct predecessors.