SANTO DOMINGO.-After 26 years of demanding that different governments pay an outstanding debt that the Dominican State has with their companies, a group of engineers was received yesterday at the Ministry of Finance to hear firsthand the details of their demands.
The contractors had risen up in protest against the current government, demanding payment of 385 million pesos that the State owes them for completed works.
The Deputy Minister of the Treasury, Derby De los Santos, along with the Director of Debt Recognition of the Treasury, Claudia Cabral and other government representatives, received at ten in the morning, the delegation of professionals grouped in the Codiano Institutional Committee (CIC), to discuss possible solutions to their situation.
"They promised to create a working group between the Treasury, the debtor institutions and the CIC Strategy Commission," said Emiliano Familia, spokesperson for the plaintiffs.
He explains that the same deputy minister committed to personally following up "with regard to the issue of institutions such as the former Office of Supervising Engineers of State Works (OISOE), the Ministry of Housing and Buildings (MIVED), the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC) and the National Institute of Drinking Water and Sewerage (INAPA), to begin the work.".
"He appointed his assistant Marelys Howley to follow up with us on the process, and we also have President Luis Abinader's assistant, Ricardo Escala, who was assigned by the president to follow up on the process," Familia explains.
He stated that after what happened, everyone's hopes were renewed. The contractors' delegation consisted of engineers Aníbal Rincón, Héctor Rizik, Ovidio Rosario, and architect Familia, who will also represent the CIC at the working group meeting.
The facts
These are 107 construction professionals who are demanding that the Government pay them 385 million pesos that the State owes them for services rendered, in their role as contractors.
The plaintiffs state that this is a commitment made by the Dominican State 26 years ago for works carried out in twelve government institutions. They assert that these works were formally contracted, constructed, measured, properly supervised, and put into service since 1996.
“New governments assume the assets and liabilities of their predecessors. That is why we are requesting that the government headed by President Luis Abinader Corona fulfill the oath it took before the nation to respect and enforce the Constitution and the laws,” the engineers stated previously.
They maintain that an abuse of power is being committed against them, because the sacred constitutional principle of the State is being violated. “Article 38 of our Constitution regarding respect for human dignity is also being violated; Law 3143 on work performed but not paid for and Law 340-06 on Purchase and Contracting are being violated.”.
The CIC
The Codiano Institutional Committee (CIC) is an organization that has been created to fight in defense of the interests of engineering professionals.
It is made up of Emiliano Familia, Aníbal Rincón, Nelson Núñez, Ovidio Rosario, Félix Miceli, Samuel Peña, Pedro Troncoso, Ana Cristina de los Santos, Elias Pérez, Manuel Reyes, Buenaventura García, Dominica Mojica, Isis Pérez, José Torres, Julio César Nin, Ricardo Mariñez, Anny Nadal, Diógenes Zapata and Martha Aponte.
