In the Dominican Republic, there is a National Office of Meteorology (Onamet) that falls under the Ministry of Public Works. Now the Chamber of Deputies approved on Tuesday, 30 May 2023, a bill that creates the Dominican Institute of Meteorology (Indomet) to replace Onamet.
Deputy Gilberto Balbuena (PRM-Santo Domingo province) submitted the bill. An earlier initiative to the same sense had been studied in Congress in 2021 submitted by Felix Bautista (FP-San Juan de la Maguana). He had proposed Indomet fall under the Ministry of Environment.
At the time, the long-standing director of Onamet, Gloria Ceballos expressed her support in the understanding that the meteorological service needs a legal framework to strengthen weather services.
Indomet would be a specialized governing body and would be attached to the Ministry of the Presidency. It would be responsible for all meteorological and climate-related activities and information.
It would also be empowered to collect and transmit data from national and international stations and to maintain adequate relations with the competent bodies in meteorological information.
The bill will now pass to the Senate of the Republic to continue with its legislative process.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
El Nuevo Diario
31 May 2023