Hoy reports that several leading municipal government figures are calling for the abolition of the Municipal League, a much-criticized national coordinating body for local government. Gabriel Castro, who heads Santo Domingo’s municipal authority, accused the Municipal League president Amable Aristy Castro of distributing funds “at his discretion” and said that he would call for the League to be axed. Santo Domingo Mayor Roberto Salcedo agreed that there was no need for an intermediate body to handle government funds aimed at the municipal authorities. Gabriel Castro said that the League, or even Amable Aristy Castro himself, would end up “pocketing RD$50 million, and that is not acceptable”. He announced “the beginning of the end” for the League, saying it should be subject to detailed scrutiny, to show that the entity is “inoperative dysfunctional and anachronistic”. Roberto Salcedo linked the crisis in Santo Domingo’s municipal cleansing services to the retention of funds by the Municipal League. Amable Aristy Castro, according to Gabriel Castro, has cut the capital city’s allocation by RD$20 million, while increasing that of his native city Higuey, as well as others including La Vega and Santiago. These decisions, says Gabriel Castro, are politically motivated.