According to the principal headline in today?s List?n Diario, the municipal government of Santo Domingo owes the Banco de Reservas RD$24 million for the purchase of 24 minibuses that have been put into service. The banking institution, in a letter dated 8 April 2003, asked Santo Domingo Mayor Roberto Salcedo for payment on a loan of US$16.2 million. These funds were loaned to purchase vehicles for the transport union Fenatrano. The government commercial bank, Banco de Reservas, accepted that former Mayor Johnny Ventura (PRD 1998-2002) sign the insolvent city government as guarantor for the loan and the transport union members committed to make daily payments to the Banco de Reservas. According to Fenatrano union leader Juan Hubieres, the 40% rise in the cost of the dollar has made repayment of the loan impossible. Hubieres told reporters that he has tried to have the union make three months of supposed back-payment quotas, but he felt that the time spent in getting the vehicles to the country should not count against the payment plan. According to Hubieres, the original plan was that each driver had to pay RD$500 per day to fulfill the monthly quota the union contracted with the bank. Because of the devaluation of the peso, the daily quota for the drivers is now RD$800 per day, making the remittances unfeasible.