The president of the Dominican Republic Industries Association (AIRD) Ligia Bonetti says the government should take on responsibility for port security. She expressed her opposition to the privatization of this service. As reported in El Dia, she said the business sector was opposed to the contract granted to the ICSSI in 2002 but never implemented, saying it was in violation of the Constitution because it granted monopoly rights to a single company. She said the proposed contract was an expensive additional cost that would be negative for competitiveness and did not add any value to Dominican ports because the certification would not be taken into account when the cargo arrived at other ports. Bonetti was speaking on Wednesday, 6 February on Cuentas Claras radio show on La Nota (95.7FM).
The company, ICSSI, SRL Border Support Services said that in August 2012 it accepted a renegotiation of the contract reducing the tariffs for the X-ray service by half, to US$45 for loaded freight containers and US$20 for empty containers. Discussions on the contract have surfaced after the FBI in the United States opened an investigation into the ties of US Senator Bob Menendez and Dominican ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, who is the largest shareholder of the ICSSI venture.
http://eldia.com.do/nacionales/2013/2/7/106448/Ligia-Bonetti-La-Aduana-debe-estar-en-manos-del-Gobierno
http://www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/46159/56/La-oficina-misteriosa-del-Boulevard-Metrocentre-de-Salomon-Melgen.html