Taxpayers would have ended up paying for 485 beauty product kits contracted by the state bus company, Omsa, as reported in El Nuevo Diario. The kits were valued at RD$1,700 each. The total of the tender was for RD$970,910 for the hair product kits.
The Omsa said the purchase was made to be able to give the kits to mothers on their staff for Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day in the Dominican Republic is the last Sunday of the month. This year it falls on Sunday, 30 May 2021.
The tender document, published on the portal of the Public Procurement Agency, is dated 19 May 2021 and corresponds to file OMSA-DAF-CM-2021-0016.
Omsa announced the cancellation on Thursday, 27 May 2021, coinciding with the generalized protests in the media and social media over the tender. Omsa press release says the cancellation is due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.
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El Nuevo Diario
27 May 2021