Yesterday, Tuesday 24 February 2015, the government only handed over only 26 checks to the 462 engineers and architects who won the fourth round of tenders to build 312 schools and 150 childcare centers, as they have not finished the process of buying the land where the new facilities will be built. The total investment has now risen to around RD$4 billion.
At the ceremony for handing over the checks, Education Minister Carlos Amarante Baret revealed that the process previously used for obtaining the land had shown elements of fraud, leading them to change the way of acquiring the land.
He added that the provincial governments now had to look for an assessment of the land’s value and were responsible for ensuring that negotiations for purchase were free of any fraud. Amarante Baret said that this has delayed the handover of the land to the engineers and architects who were awarded the work in December 2014.
The minister appealed to them to trust in the authorities, adding that the current plan was to hand over the remaining checks by 31 March.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2015/2/24/357496/Retraso-en-adquisicion-de-solares-impide-entrega-de-cheques-a-mas-de-400