Santo Domingo.– Cecilio Comprés, representative and spokesperson for the school contractors of the Dominican Republic, reported that the Ministry of Education (MINERD) is awaiting a response from the General Comptroller of the Republic to advance the procedures related to the payment of bank interest claimed by the contractors.
Comprés offered the statements after a meeting with MINERD authorities, held following the protest led this Tuesday by dozens of school contractors.
As explained, during the meeting the authorities reported that there is a communication sent by the Minister of Education, Luis Miguel De Camps, to the Comptroller General on July 8, but that so far it has not received a response.
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“Before Friday they will give us an answer as to when they are going to meet with the comptroller to find a solution,” stated Comprés, who clarified that this does not mean that the payments will be made this same week.
The spokesperson indicated that the MINERD committed to insisting on coordinating a meeting with the Comptroller’s Office to seek a solution to the claim for bank interest.
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Likewise, he indicated that they received information about a new list that includes at least 15 contractors, whose cases will be delivered to the sector representatives so that they can verify the corresponding results.
Claim for withholdings
Another topic addressed during the meeting was the claim related to Law 6-86. Comprés maintained that this point does not depend on the Comptroller’s Office, but rather must be resolved administratively by the Ministry of Education.
He explained that the contractors hope to meet again with the MINERD legal department before Friday to address the case, which they claim they have been discussing with the authorities since May.
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According to Comprés, the claimed resources had been improperly deducted or withheld by the financial department, so the contractors are awaiting an administrative solution.
They warn that if their demands are not met, they will resume protests
Comprés warned that the contractors will evaluate the responses offered by the authorities over the next few days and, if by the end of the week they do not see concrete progress toward a solution, they will resume their protest schedule.
The leader stated that some of the claims date back to 2014 and that for years they have requested answers from different administrations. “If we do not see the vision that they are going to pay us, we are going to continue with our program of days of struggle,” he expressed.
It is recalled that the Union of Contracted Professionals of the MINERD (UCOCOMI) demanded from the MINERD the return of approximately RD$113 million corresponding to bank interest and other withholdings that, according to the organization, were deducted from engineers and contractors in charge of the construction of educational centers since the years 2013 and 2014.
