Congress continues to grant state-paid pensions to those with political influence. Despite complaints that the pensions are a major burden to state finances, the deputies continue to dedicate many hours to their passing. Karyma Marra, director of the department of pensions of the Ministry of Finances pleads that Congress to stop approving the pensions.
Diario Libre reports that she says that her department has more than a million pensions awaiting fund allotments in the budget. She said that in 2002 alone, the deputies approved RD$1.5 million in pensions. The state pays RD$94 million to those that have been able to collect on pensions.
As reported in Hoy, Marra says that the high pensions lobbied by persons with political influence are in stark contrast to the lowly wages that 30,000 long time government employees receive today. She says there are many cases of persons who have waited for years for a minimum pension and have died without this being allotted.
Government legislation establishes that the state pay up to 80% of salaries to the beneficiaries. The major problem now with state pensions is that since 1997 government employees are among the better-paid workers in the Dominican Republic, thus the pensions are an incredible burden to taxpayers.