2024News

How can RD$100 million go up in smoke?

The investigative journalist Nuria Piera published a long report on the recent announcement by the National Institute for Student Welfare (Inabie) that millions of pesos worth of student supplies would be incinerated because they are no good to anyone.

According to the report, the Ministry of Education put out a tender in 2012 for school supplies: shoes, backpacks, socks, shirts and trousers. The tender was won by a company tied to the brother of President Medina, Alexis Medina, who is currently under indictment in the Anti-Pulpo case.

As the reporter says, the warehouse manager who initially received the goods rejected them because they were not in accordance with the tender-sheet. Materials and clothing did not match the requirements. However, a superior of the warehouse manager insisted on receiving the goods, and even the former Minister of Education told Piera that she had “temporarily” received the goods.

Piera’s report goes into detail as to the errors in the goods that were received and the specifications listed in the tender-sheet. It provides an inside look at just how the government pays its suppliers.

Finally, the recent move by the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) to remove “in disgrace” Carlos Almarante Baret, who was the Minister of Education when the merchandise in question was received just adds another degree of intrigue to the issue.

Read more in Spanish:
N Digital
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N Digital

30 September 2024