The director of the Presidential Office of Information Technology and Communication (OPTIC), Domingo Tavarez, claimed yesterday that the Dominican Government website project will not be financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as has been stated in some quarters. That is why he did not keep to the IDB regulations, and the tender was therefore carried out according to the regulations established by the government, which is going to provide the resources for the project. During a visit to Listin Diario, the official stated that the contract issued in favor of Microsoft Dominicana, who presented a proposal of US$5.9 million, has not been over-valued or over-calculated, but rather studied in accordance with a reference budget of US$10 million. He insists that the IDB’s claims that the rules agreed upon with the government in the tender process for the Citizen’s Services website, do not apply in this case. The tender process was suspended by the National Ethics Commission presided by Jose Joaquin Bido Medina, who recently explained that the suspension was due to a request from the IDB, which is demanding the compliance with certain rules in all projects where it has made investments. Tavarez believes that the IDB was acting under the assumption that the OPTIC was using funds from the Executive Branch Modernization Program (Pro-Reforma) which is financed by the IDB. This issue has been the subject of much controversy, having caused the resignation of long-time PLD leader Gustavo Montalvo from the Ethics Commission.