The National Comptroller’s Office is currently conducting an audit of the Consejo Estatal del Azucar (CEA), whose new director Antonio Isa Conde says there could be “terrible things” found in the records under previous directors. He commented that many people “have abused the CEA”, referring to former administrators and employees. He told the hosts of a local television program that he found thousands of “botellas” or jobs where people were paid for doing nothing, while low level workers were not being paid at all. The CEA has struggled financially for years, and the sugar industry, traditionally considered a pillar of the Dominican economy, has suffered immensely.