President Leonel Fernandez appointed Luis Inchausti, formerly of the controversial PEME program, as a government minister sans portfolio. At the end of the previous PLD government, Inchausti was jailed for his involvement in the program that handled RD$1.3 billion without adequate controls. Fernandez justified the welfare program as a decision ?to pay or to kill,? meaning the funds were used to bribe aggressive people in the slum barrios not to participate in several times violate protests or instigate civil unrest. In addition to Inchausti, Fernandez has also appointed others, who were questioned for the mishandling of funds, to top-ranking positions in his cabinet, including new Industry and Commerce Minister Francisco Javier Garcia (formerly of the National Lottery), Simon Lizardo and Felix Bautista, who will repeat as Public Works Office Supervisor. Side by side with his announcement of austerity, President Fernandez also announced that former Public Works Minister Diandino Pena, who was in charge of mega-projects in his government, will head efforts to build the metro of Santo Domingo.