 DR1.com - Roby Senderowitsch, representative for the World Bank in the DR, says that countries that show the most development are those with the least levels of corruption. The DR is listed by the World Bank as one of the most corrupt in the world. Senderowitsch said that corruption is an anchor that holds back business and investment. He said that the poor people are the most vulnerable victims of corruption because they have less resources to defend themselves, as reported in Hoy.
The World Bank is backing the Anti-Corruption Participatory Initiative (IPAC) that seeks to contribute to improve levels of transparency in government spending. Participating in the initiative is the civil society, business, international organizations such as USAID, IDB, AE-CID (Spain), and local entities such as Foundation for Justice and Institutionalism, the National Business Council, the Chamber of Commerce of Santiago, among others.
Senderowitsch said that corruption affects the quality of public services. "When there is corruption, health suffers, education suffers, security suffers, and the public entities suffer. And then the poor are those that end up suffering the most," he said.
He announced IPAC would be launched in the DR on Tuesday. The experience of countries that have been successful reducing corruption will be presented at a workshop that is part of the effort.
Where is the money invested?
Nelson Suarez wrote in Hoy on Sunday, 6 June that from 2005 to 2009, the Fernandez administration handled RD$176 billion in public investment works, plus RD$109.9 billion in capital transfers, for a total of RD$285.9 billion over the past 5 years. Suarez says that 87% of the funds have been used to build works, including infrastructure. He makes the point that the public has not been given access to details on current spending and spending on fixed assets or intangible ones carried out by government entities and there is hardly any information available on these beyond what the government itself says it has done with the money.
He mentions a recent article by Hamlet Hermann where the later comments on a generalized custom of Dominican governments to start large public works, invest enormous amounts of borrowed funds. It is not uncommon for the problem that justified the investment to go unresolved. Suarez mentions more evidence of corruption, with the over valuating of projects. Estimates made by engineer Napoleon (Polon) Munoz, indicate the government in the past year has lost over RD$75 billion, not taking into account the enormous amount of public works projects that are not completed and that years after are just abandoned.
In 2005, Participacion Ciudadana civic group presented an inventory of 1,132 public works that had not been completed, many dating back to 1966. Suarez mentions that in 2008, Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez himself mentioned that the Autopista del Coral had been overvalued by 50%.
Suarez mentions that as of 2007, the government itself has taken on responsibility for building, and is not contracting third parties. It mentions that this privileged modus operandi has been carried out by the Presidency through its Supervisory Office of Public Works and the Ministry of Public Works and works worth RD$105.1 billion have been carried out this way. 39% of the construction works are centered in the National District.
The 2010 budget contemplates the investment of RD$60.9 billion and capital transfers of RD$24.3 for a total of RD$85.3 billion, of which most would be financed by borrowing abroad.
The author says that the Chamber of Accounts should look into these public investments. |
