Senate President Ramón Alburquerque yesterday called on President Fernández to cancel 300 subsecretary posts in his government and use the resulting salary savings to pay for the pay hike sought by doctors. He said that the doctors perform a vital service to the Dominican public and deserve a raise, whereas the 300 functionaries he proposes canceling are receiving hefty salaries without providing any appreciable service to the country. He warned that Health Minister Guzmán’s proposal to raise taxes to pay for the doctor’s salary hike is unlikely to pass the Senate. The Senate is not interested in raising taxes more, he said, and in any case, if the Congress raised taxes to pay more one segment of government employees (doctors), other segments would demand similar treatment.
