The controversial National Transit and Transport Institute (Intrant) contract is now revealing itself as a matter of national security.
Commuters in the capital city found themselves in traffic jams that didn’t move on several streets in the capital city on Wednesday evening. The worse-than-usual jams coincided with a warning by Carlos Balcacer, a lawyer for Pedro Pandovani, general manager, and on paper, the majority shareholder of Transcore Latam holder of the traffic lights system contract. Balcacer said that the system could be disconnected on Thursday, creating chaos during the morning rush.
The Procurement Agency (DGCP) has ordered a temporary suspension of the contract with Transcore Latam to install the traffic lights system due to major irregularities. Intrant director Hugo Beras has defended the contract signed with Transcore Latam. He argues DGCP should have acted months before. He says the system is 65% installed.
In late developments in this controversy behind the RD$1.3 billion contract, representatives who identify themselves as from Transcore LP from the United States held a press conference to defend the contract. The company representatives are Ray Cuesta, said to be vice president for Transit Solutions and Road Technology for Transcore LP, and counselors Joonho J. Lee and Jim MacDonald.
Lawyer Carlos Balcacer says his defendants Transcore LP and its partner in the Dominican Republic Transcore Latam will take legal actions against Carlos Pimentel, director of the Procurement Agency and the foreign businessmen Ricardo Echandi and Carlos Ariel Zabala for defamation in the contract for the improvements in the traffic control that includes the installation of smart traffic lights in Greater Santo Domingo.
Yet, Noticias SIN and Alicia Ortega of El Informe on Wednesday evening reported on Channel 9 that the people who speak for Transcore LP in the United States are not related to TransCore LP in the United States, a major traffic systems supplier. Noticias SIN reports that Pellerano & Herrera, the legal counsel in the Dominican Republic for Transcore LP of Nashville, Tennessee, the company responsible for systems installed in various cities in the United States, reports that its information and documents were used without its authorization and the signature of Michael Mauritz, [TransCore LP business segment manager] was forged during the bidding process that resulted in the awarding of the contract for the smart traffic light technology to Transcore Latam. The legal counsel for the company says that the individuals who say they represent Transcore LP are not employees of that company.
Noticias SIN reports that Ray Cuesta, who came to the Dominican Republic to defend the Transcore Latam contract, is not on the list of vice presidents nor directors of the TransCore LP from Nashville, Tennessee.
A Diario Libre editorial on 9 November highlights that a National Investigations Agency (DNI) communication to Transcore Latam has alerted the shutdown is a threat to national security.
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Diario Libre
9 November 2023