The proposed return of the Metropolitan Transport Authority (AMET) traffic patrols to National Police control has generated a conflict in Congress, as well as reactions from both the head of the police force and the AMET. According to El Caribe, the president of the finance committee of the Senate, Cesar Diaz Filpo, feels that the idea is the result of a last minute change, made without any discussions on the subject. The proposed transfer, to be included in the legislation slated to reform the police force, would place the Metropolitan Transit Authority and its agents, again under the aegis of the National Police. Yesterday, the head of the AMET, General Pedro de Jesus Candelier, told the press that he was sending the President a proposal for a law that would create a new arm of law enforcement, to be named the National Transportation Authority. The spokesman for the opposition PLD, Jose Tomas Perez, said that his party is against the transfer since it represents a step backward in traffic control.
AMET was created under the administration of Leonel Fernandez (PLD 1996-2000) when the government determined it would be easier to start from scratch than to reform the police traffic corps. The requirements to become an AMET agent were a high school decree and the starting pay was three times that of a police agent. This resulted in AMET agents gaining a reputation for not accepting bribes.
The chief of the National Police, General Jaime Marte Martinez, denies that he requested AMET be returned to the police.