The Public Procurement Agency (DGCP) director general, Carlos Pimentel is calling for an overhaul of the contracting procedures at the National Institute of Student Welfare (Inabie). Inabie is responsible for procurement for the Ministry of Education.
Pimentel says his department is sorting through several complaints and will be issuing its rulings. Nevertheless, he said that others, where criminal charges could be rendered, have been sent to the Attorney General Office.
During an interview on “Despierta con CDN,” Pimentel described as “unusual” the first inquiries into the National Institute of Student Welfare (Inabie), the public schools’ procurement department adhered to the Ministry of Education. Pimentel said government employees carried out the irregularities in contracting in complicity with private suppliers.
“What happened was something unusual; it was truly an organized disorder, where, it must be said, there was the participation of civil servants and suppliers as well,” he indicated.
Likewise, Pimentel stressed that the bidding processes at Inabie must be changed since the system has major flaws.
“It must be pointed out that the process, the contractual modality of Inabie must be completely reviewed, it must be restructured and it must be transformed, and it must be amended because it has some weaknesses,” he said.
Among such weaknesses, he highlighted the fact that the bids are carried out under a fixed price scheme, which relieves the bidders from competing on prices. He said this modality can no longer continue to be in effect. He described the modality as an assault on the government budget. President Luis Abinader has said he would submit amendments to Procurement Law 340-06 when the session reopens on 27 February 2022.
Pimentel says that the Procurement Agency is working with the new authorities at the Inabie, now under Victor Castro, a former president of the Herrera industrial association. Inabie manages government allotments for around RD$30 billion a year. A technical committee was created to prepare for the bids for the next school year.
Pimentel explained that the procurement agency is preparing a report that includes an analysis of the Inabie purchasing mechanism, how it has worked and how it has been transformed over time. He said the authorities appointed at the start of the Abinader administration found the mechanism in place and continued the same practices. These, nevertheless, were vigorously contested by the affected bidders.
On Thursday last week, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Corruption (Pepca) summoned the former director of Inabie, Cecilio Rodriguez for questioning. Rodriguez was dismissed in mid-December 2021, after several complaints about irregularities in the entity he presided.
When approached by members of the press, the former official described the accusations against him as “lies and fallacies.” Education Minister Roberto Fulcar has denied the allegations that members of his family benefit from government contracting. He said that even when Inabie depends on the Ministry of Education (Minerd) in some aspects, it enjoys administrative independence, so the Ministry of Education does not intervene in things such as the selection of suppliers.
In addition to the complaints about the bids, another problem faced by the Inabie is the slow payment to the suppliers.
However, among the suppliers who are claiming payment is the company of PRM Deputy Altagracia Yarelys Encarnación Gerónimo, who claims a debt that would exceed 12 million pesos. In her sworn statement of wealth, the legislator reported five invoices pending payment by Inabie to the company “Multiservicios Gerónimo, E. I. R. L.” of which she is “owner and manager.”
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
N Digital
El Caribe
Despierta con CDN
8 February 2022