SANTO DOMINGO.– The commission created by Law 16-26 approved the protocol that will allow the process of reviewing and subsequently paying the debts that the State has with public works contractors to begin, a step that puts into action the application of legislation awaited by hundreds of engineers, builders and suppliers with outstanding claims.
The information was released this Tuesday by the Presidency of the Republic, which explained that during the first working session of the commission, the procedures, technical criteria and requirements that will govern the evaluation of the files to recognize the obligations contemplated in the law were established.
Law 16-26 was enacted on May 25 to create an extraordinary mechanism to review and recognize economic claims from contractors who carried out works for various public institutions and whose payments remained pending, in some cases due to the absence of formalized contracts or incomplete administrative processes.
The protocol, which will be made public, seeks to unify the rules for reviewing claims and ensure that the process is carried out under criteria of transparency, legal certainty and accountability.
Files under review will have priority
According to the entity, as part of the first decisions, the commission agreed to give priority to the files that were already under review at the Comptroller General of the Republic at the time Law 16-26 came into effect, in order to expedite the start of payments.
Likewise, the protocol will be sent to the observers and the institutions included in the regulations to ensure a uniform application of the established procedures.
Law seeks to regularize accumulated debts
The commission reiterated that one of its main objectives is to create the necessary administrative, technical and operational conditions to begin, in the shortest possible time, the payment of debts recognized by the legislation.
The body is composed of the Minister of Finance and Economy, Magín Díaz, who presides over it; the Comptroller General of the Republic, Geraldo Espinosa Pérez; the Director General of Budget, José Rijo Presbot; and the Director General of Public Procurement, Carlos Pimentel.
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