List?n Diario reports that President Hip?lito Mej?a has agreed to find a definite solution to the case in which the Banco de Reservas, the governmental commercial bank, discounts RD$40 million a month from Santo Domingo city finances to pay for the Fenatrano buses imported by the government. The past PRD city government under former Mayor Juan Ventura named itself as guarantor to the loans contracted by the unionized bus owners. As has happened with similar transport plans over the years, the beneficiaries of the buses have defaulted on their payments, and the government is applying the guarantee, thus creating a hole in the finances of Santo Domingo Mayor Roberto Salcedo (PLD).
Salcedo told the List?n Diario that they had reached an agreement that the Reservas would not discount the funds from the city government?s account until next Monday, at which time a new meeting would be held. Salcedo explained that he had been notified that a RD$45-million payment was about to be discounted from city government funds, which he said would be tantamount to closing the city of Santo Domingo. The government allotment for the capital city?s operations is RD$40 million a month. Salcedo explained that the Fenatrano debt equals about RD$300 million.