The Director of Civil Defense, Rhadames Lora Salcedo, revealed that the former administration of the entity he heads rejected a US$15 million loan from the Spanish government that would have purchased helicopters, launches and other cutting-edge equipment. According to Lora Salcedo, the acquisition of the sophisticated equipment and transport was deemed incommensurate with the technical capacity of the organization, and also would necessitated high maintenance costs. The DR’s Civil Defense Administration lacks people with adequate training for such equipment, according to Lora Salcedo. "Launches ought to be managed by the Navy Department, aeronautical transport should go to the Air Force," he said. Lora Salcedo also referred to donations of equipment from the United States which, he said, are valued at US$12 to US$14 million. These include trucks, electric generators, water transporting apparatus, tents, field hospitals, medicine and medical equipment. "When I got to this job, these things were waiting in a container, and no one knew what they were, nor how to use them," he said. "How can the international community continue to donate things that we have no place even to store, let alone know how to use."
