An agreement signed by the Ombudsman Office and the United Nations Development Program concentrates funds on the expansion of the headquarters in the National District and the modernizing the Ombudsman’s internal processes, Listin Diario reports. In the original contract signed by former ombudswoman Zoila Martinez Guante, funds would have been used for the opening and equipping of 14 regional offices.
In the new agreement, dated 30 September 2021, priority is given to the expansion of the headquarters building and the modernization of internal processes, reports the Listin Diario in its headline story on 30 June 2022.
Ombudsman Pablo Ulloa explained to Listín Diario that the funds that would have been used for the opening of the regional offices will go to finish the headquarters building. A third floor was added to cover the demands for space of the institution. He said the parties agreed to focus on strengthening the operational capabilities of the Ombudsman Office.
“The Ombudsman in the current administration assumes the principle of continuity of the state by continuing with the agreement established with the UNDP by the former Ombudsman (2013-2021), Mrs. Zoila Martínez Guante,” Ulloa emphasized. He specified that this decision is contemplated in the extension of the agreement signed in 2021 by the Ombudsman and UNDP. He added that since 2013 the institution has been working with the UNDP.
The regional offices of the Ombudsman had been included in two amendments made to the original contract, which amounted to US$3,612,047. A first amendment to the project, dated 14 December 2018, sought to provide the Ombudsman with physical infrastructure in seven provinces. It contemplated the acquisition of premises, adequacy and equipment of offices in Puerto Plata, La Romana, Barahona, Monte Plata, Hato Mayor, Sanchez Ramirez and Montecristi, which involved the disbursement of US$1,391,040.
In a second amendment, dated 20 March 2019, another seven provinces were incorporated, Peravia, San Cristóbal, San Juan de la Maguana, San Francisco de Macorís, Higüey, Samaná and Espaillat, which also increased the original budget by US$1,200,000.
All the amendments increased the cost of the project, as the most recent one, in 2021, entailed the disbursement to UNDP of another RD$100 million. They also extended the completion date.
UNDP informed that during a recent meeting, the status of the construction of the Ombudsman’s headquarters was evaluated and that they committed to speed up the approval of the pending processes, in order to restart the works. The meeting between the Ombudsman, Pablo Ulloa, and the representative of the UNDP, Inka Mattila, took place after Listin Diario published on Friday, 24 June 2022 that the construction of the Ombudsman headquarters was stopped.
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Listin Diario
30 June 2022