TV investigative journalist Nuria Piera aired on Saturday, 4 March 2017 an investigative report on a tender for the redesign of the ProCompetencia promotional strategy and logo part of the developments during the first six months of TV and radio host and lawyer Yolanda Martínez’s tenure as president of ProCompetencia. The report focuses on wasteful spending and an alleged lack of competitiveness in Martínez’s decision-making. ProCompetencia was created to promote and guarantee free competition for market efficiency. This is the third time that ProCompetencia designs its logo.
The TV report looks into the close relationship between Miguel Alfonseca and Yolanda Martínez that has been shared on their Instagram accounts. TV journalist Nuria Piera says they are more than close friends, hinting at how Martínez has used her position to benefit her friends and allies. Alfonseca is better known as the top executive of Kraneo, a leading advertising agency.
Previously, Nuria Piera had aired two programs on ProCompetencia. The first was in 2012, when she highlighted the high cost of the agency to the government. She pointed out that the board’s expenses were exorbitant, running up government payroll expenditures to around RD$5 million a month. However, because the government had failed to appoint an executive director, ProCompetencia was unable to carry out its mission. Piera called it a parasitical entity.
In September 2016, Piera again focused on the agency when President Medina appointed TV host and radio broadcaster and lawyer Yolanda Martínez to replace past president, Michel Cohen, who had just released a series of studies conducted with IDB support on the monopolistic position of several leading Dominican companies. Cohen had a contract that had not yet expired.
Shortly after the appointment of Martínez, in January 2017, an executive director would be named at the organization, Nilka Elisa Jansen. This meant ProCompetencia could get on with the business for which it was created, that is to foster free market competition.
Piera on Saturday, 4 March 2017 would air a new report on ProCompetencia. The focus of the third and most recent TV news report concerns the RD$1.9 million winning bid to redesign the government agency’s logo. Piera points out that this was the third time in recent years the agency’s logo was redesigned. The tender was won by a company headed by the sister of Miguel Alfonseca, the close friend of Martinez.
Piera in the report makes the point that the bid for the logo design was issued in the middle of the Christmas holidays. Indeed, the call for proposals was made on 19 December and the firms were given only eight calendar days (27 December) to present their designs.
Piera found it strange that the lowest bid, submitted by NG Media, was rejected, even though it came in at almost half the price of the winning bid submitted by Tikitaka Producciones, the company with close ties to her friend. The ProCompetencia tender committee said NG Media had failed to meet the terms of the bidding process. But Piera claims that those terms for which their bid was disqualified from the competition were not expressly documented.
The second lowest bid, that of Tikitaka Producciones, was instead granted the contract. As mentioned above, the company’s top executive is a sister of Miguel Alfonseca Montes de Oca. Likewise, Piera revealed that the owner of the registration of the name Tikitaka Producciones is Miguel Alfonseca Montes de Oca.
Piera said that Martinez was not available for comment.
On Monday, 6 March 2017, Martínez visited her past colleagues at the El Sol de la Mañana radio talk show to say that she had recused herself from the deliberations of the selection committee charged with the choosing the company that would redesign the logo. She said she does not participate in tenders taking place at ProCompetencia.
After the airing of the TV show, Martínez said she sent the case to the government Procurement Agency (Dirección General de Compras y Contrataciones) for an investigation into whether there were irregularities in the tender process and whether this should be definitely suspended. The director of the Procurement Agency, Yokasta Guzmán said they would issue a resolution with their opinion.
See more:
Nuria Piera report on YouTube
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7 March 2017
