The Public Procurement Agency (DGCP) has officially halted the procurement process for several vehicles initiated by the National Institute for Comprehensive Early Childhood Care (Inaipi) following a complaint filed by the civic society movement and news agency, Somos Pueblo. The DGCP’s decision to cancel the RD$151,354,593.80 purchase order came after an investigation revealed several irregularities that contravene the country’s Public Procurement Law.
The director of the Inaipi is former PRM deputy Josefa Castillo Rodriguez, who previously served as Superintendent of Insurance. She was appointed to direct Inaipi in August 2024, at the start of the second term of President Abinader.
The DGCP identified several technical shortcomings in the procurement process. These included a lack of adequate technical justification for the selection of specific vehicles and irregularities in the amendment process that were made outside of the stipulated timeframe.
Somos Pueblo says that the tender vehicle specifications coincide with those of the Chevrolet Tahoe High Country model, raising concerns about the fairness of the bidding process. The vehicle is RD$6 million for the executive SUV or around US$100,000.
The irregularities included the specifications of the vehicle she would have purchased from the local Chevrolet dealer.
El Piro (Eduardo Sánchez Tolentino) says she is giving the exact specifications of a vehicle sold by Santo Domingo Motors, the Chevrolet local dealer. El Piro and fellow program producer, Ricardo Ripoll concluded that this was not a tender, but rather a purchase. They also speculate that the director of the Procurement Agency probably got his vehicle through a similar purchase procedure.
Such a specific requirement was seen as directing the tender towards a particular brand, thereby limiting competition. The DGCP asserted that these irregularities violated the principles of equality and free competition outlined in Law No. 340-06 on Public Procurement.
It is a general practice for government entities to purchase new vehicles for the officials of the agencies and ministries at the expense of taxpayers.
The purchase of the US$100,000 vehicle for the director comes at a time when the Abinader administration has said it does not have the funds for needed essentials and had called for increases in taxation. These were aborted when the general public called for more efficient government management of current funds.
Read more in Spanish:
Somos Pueblo Minute 7.14
Somos Pueblo
20 November 2024