The Abinader administration has begun the process to convert the Metropolitan Office of Bus Services (OMSA) government bus entity into a public company. A board presided by the Minister of the Presidency (Joel Santos Echavarría), Public Administration Minister (Dario Castillo) and the director of OMSA (Radhames Gonzalez) will oversee the new entity. Other members are the Hacienda Minister Jochi Vicente and Public Works Minister Deligne Ascención. Gonzalez will be the executive vice president and general manager.
Presidency Minister Joel Santos Echavarría explained that as a public company, OMSA will operate as a decentralized entity and will be more efficient, even when maintaining its state-owned status.
“OMSA is now part of the Integrated Transport System, through which the population will be offered a satisfactory experience in terms of urban mobility,” said Santos. The SIT includes mass transport on cable cars, subways, a monorail and road corridors.
Santos emphasized that once its transformation process is concluded under provisions in Law 479-08 General Law of Commercial Companies and Individual Enterprises, OMSA will have new legal status, with its own assets and the capacity to contract under its own management and control mechanisms.
The operational differences will affect the management and operations of planning, budget, procurement and contracting, public accounting and internal controls.
Article 356 of Law 63-17 establishes the reform of the OMSA, and for this reason, on 25 April 2023, President Abinader issued Decree 167-23 establishing the criteria for the OMSA transformation.
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Listin Diario
2 November 2023