It is a great disgrace that the officials of the current government have not resolved the payment of the aforementioned debts in three years, and with this they are pushing the CIC to carry out an intense program of public protest activities.”.
SANTO DOMINGO.- Amid the back-and-forth to which various governments have subjected a group of 107 contractors to whom the Dominican State owes 385 million pesos, a new argument has emerged in the efforts they are making from various perspectives to get paid for their services, as denounced yesterday by those affected.
The Collection Desk of the Codiano Institutional Committee (CIC) stated that some officials of the current government are misinforming President Luis Abinader regarding the legal status of the files that the current administration has certified.
“Those same officials, empowered by President Abinader to resolve the payment of these debts, have been inefficient in the three years of the current government and are now trying to discredit the contractors' payment claims,” the affected parties said at a press conference.
They referred to the statement allegedly made by Jose Lois Malkun, former governor of the Central Bank and current advisor to the Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings (MIVHED), who, according to the plaintiffs, said on a television program that these old debts with contractors cannot be paid because they do not meet current legal requirements, “in clear reference to Law 340-06 on Public Purchases and Contracts.”.
They pointed out that the Deputy Minister of the Presidency, Víctor Sánchez, has also argued that the debts to the contractors have not been paid because there are problems due to a lack of documentation.
The CIC representatives pointed out that within the old debts there are two groups, one that corresponds to works that were contracted and delivered before the enactment of law 340-06 and a second that corresponds to works contracted under the terms of that legislation.
“In the case of the first group, it is incorrect to want to apply Law 340-06 retroactively. What is appropriate is to apply the legal system under which they were hired.”.
They added that the other group of old debts correspond to contracts made under the terms of Law 340-06, which comply with all current legal requirements, "but the empowered officials have not bothered to resolve them.".
“In Malkun’s pronouncements, we see an attempt by the current authorities to discredit our payment claims, which would represent the greatest abuse of power ever exercised by any government against claims for payment of old debts to state works contractors,” they stated.
They said that Víctor Sánchez has informed them that President Abinader is interested in resolving the issue, but that a proposal could not be presented to him because there are problems related to a lack of documentation.
They acknowledged that some files regarding outstanding debts lack certain documentation, but that this is not a general situation. "There are many cases that do not have this problem and payment has not been processed.".
The group of contractors is concerned that in the three years of the current government, the officials entrusted by Abinader to resolve the issue have only suggested the approval of a special law ordering the Ministry of Finance to make the payment of these debts, and that currently, the financial vice-minister of MIVHED, Juan Luis Julia Cala, is proposing the same thing.
They pointed out that, on the other hand, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Derby de los Santos, has told several CIC committees that it is not necessary to approve a special law to pay the old debts, "with which we agree, since this would imply an infringement of administrative legality that is imputed to a contract signed and legalized between the contracting institutions of the government and the awardees.
They explained that in their extensive claims process they have had contact with the Budget Director José Rijo and with the former President of the Republic Hipólito Mejía who served as a mediator to send the debt report to President Abinader.
“The governments we’ve had over the last 27 years have trampled on the dignity of hundreds of construction professionals and exercised unparalleled abuse of power. It is a disgrace that the current government officials have failed to resolve the outstanding debts in three years, forcing the CIC to undertake an intense program of public protests,” the contractors concluded.
