SANTO DOMINGO- Through Decree 59-24, the Executive Branch entrusts the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC) with the administration of the Metropolitan Bus Services Operator (OMSA), through which said entity will no longer be attached to the Ministry of the Presidency, but proposes that the Minister of Public Works be the president of the Board of Directors, the superior body of the company.
Last November, the government launched the process of converting the Metropolitan Office of Bus Services (OMSA) into a public company, forming the OMSA Board of Directors to be chaired by the Minister of the Presidency, Joel Santos Echavarría, accompanied by the Minister of Public Administration, Darío Castillo, and the Director of OMSA, Radhamés González.
Previously, through Decree No. 167-23, issued on April 25, 2023, the President of the Republic Luis Abinader established the criteria for the transformation of the Metropolitan Office of Bus Services (OMSA) into a public company, in accordance with the provisions of Article 356 of Law No. 63-17, of Mobility, Land Transport, Transit and Road Safety of the Dominican Republic, becoming known as Metropolitan Bus Services Operator (OMSA).
Under the new provision, Omsa will have to provide MOPC with its annual report including its financial position, statement of income and expenses, annual report of its activities and other reports.
The Minister of the Presidency, or the person he designates to represent him, will remain a member of the Board of Directors, along with the Minister of Finance.
OMSA will have an executive vice president, who will also serve as general manager, appointed by presidential decree. This vice president will have a voice but no vote on the Board of Directors. There will also be a secretary appointed by the Executive branch.
The decree states in one of its recitals that the affiliation of Omsa to MOPC would allow for more effective coordination with Intrant, "contributing to efficiency and transparency in the management of the public transport service, as well as to better supervision and oversight.".
The document justifies the measure on the grounds that "according to article 9, numeral 16 of Law 63-17, it is the responsibility of the MOPC, in coordination with the National Institute of Transit and Land Transport (Intrant), to ensure compliance with the regulations relating to the circulation and road safety of the national infrastructure network for transit and land transport.
The government has arranged to transform Omsa into a public company in compliance with Law 63-17, on Mobility, Land Transport, Transit and Road Safety, which in its article 356 repealed the decree that created that institution in 1997.
That regulation ordered that "OMSA be transformed into a public or mixed public-private company providing the national bus transport service," and instructed the Executive Branch to issue the decree "for the institutional, administrative, technical and operational transformation.".
Source: Diario Libre.
