“We are not asking for privileges or favors, but rather that our rights be recognized after we have fulfilled our obligations«.
SANTO DOMINGO– A group of contractors belonging to the Codiano Institutional Committee (CIC) requested the new Minister of Finance, Majín Díaz, to promptly intervene to unblock the payment process of an accumulated state debt of 336 million pesos, corresponding to public works completed, delivered and in operation for years.
Through a letter, signed by the architect Emiliano Familia, it is stated that the lack of action during the last five years of the current government has prevented the effective processing of these debts, affecting 82 contractors who have fulfilled their contractual commitments and await administrative justice.
The document indicates that during the previous administration of the Treasury, a list of 15 documents was established that contracting institutions must provide as requirements to authorize payments, but many of these debtor entities have stated that some of this documentation has disappeared from their files, a situation that has paralyzed the payment process, without any concrete solution being proposed to compensate for the absence of public documents.
The contractors recall that last May, the Minister without Portfolio, Engineer Deligne Ascención, convened a meeting with the then Minister of Finance and the President of CODIA, Carlos Mendoza, to establish minimum requirements to facilitate payments. However, following that meeting, a redundant review of files that had already been evaluated by the Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings (Mivhed) has been restarted.
“The disappearance of public documents should not become an excuse to deny the rights of contractors,” they said, while describing the lack of solutions despite the efforts made as “deeply worrying.”.
The CIC proposes a legal and viable solution to the impasse, based on the recognition by the Comptroller General of the Republic that every contractor received an initial advance, which proves that their file was legally registered, including budget and contract.
It also proposes replacing missing documents with a report from the debtor institution's legal advisor acknowledging the existence of the work and the debt, as well as a statement of financial position issued by the contracting institution.
They also suggest using the inventory of documents still available in the archives of the contracting institutions and establishing a clear and transparent payment schedule.
“We are not asking for privileges or favors, but rather that our rights be recognized after we have fulfilled our obligations,” says architect Familia, representing the members of the commissioned engineers Aníbal Rincón, Nelson Núñez, Samuel Peña, Eugenio Matos, Ruddy Celedonio, Ovidio Rosario and Miguel Liberato.
The CIC concludes its statement expressing confidence that the new Minister of Finance will take the necessary steps to resolve this historical debt with a sense of justice, legality, and institutional responsibility.
