Santiago de los Caballeros.- The Councilors’ Bloc of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) in the Santiago City Council lashed out at the municipal administration of Mayor Ulises Rodríguez, denouncing deficiencies in garbage collection, a debt of RD$26.59 million with the Employees’ Cooperative, and delays in projects approved through the Participatory Budget.
The council members maintain that the municipality faces problems that require concrete responses and greater oversight of public resources.
“We are paying more for garbage and the service is worse”
During a press conference, councilman Engel De Jesús, spokesperson for the purple party’s bloc of councilors, indicated that the main criticism is directed at the solid waste collection system.
The council members stated that the accumulation of waste for days in streets and sectors evidences, in their view, failures in planning, supervision, and management.
They proposed reorganizing collection routes and frequencies, increasing oversight of the responsible companies, and establishing a public system that allows citizens to know when the service is scheduled in each sector.
More Read
“Santiago deserves an administration that solves problems, not one that gets used to disorder,” they stated.
Report of RD$26.5 million debt with the Cooperative
The bloc also demanded explanations regarding the situation of the Employees’ Cooperative, asserting that the accumulated debt amounts to RD$26,590,000, corresponding to four months of arrears.
According to the figures presented, the outstanding amount is distributed as follows:
More Read
- May: RD$3,432,717.65
- June: RD$7,581,492.37
- July: RD$7,702,847.48
- August: RD$7,872,857.92
The council members demanded a financial reconciliation to determine how much has been deducted from employees, how much money has been transferred, and what the outstanding balance is.
We recommend reading: PLD requests to question Edes administrators over bill increases
They also proposed a payment plan with defined dates and amounts.
“The workers are fulfilling their responsibility; the City Council must also fulfill its own,” they pointed out.
Delays in Participatory Budget works questioned
The PLD council members also questioned that projects corresponding to the 2026 Participatory Budget, approved since November 2025, still remained in bidding processes during the second quarter of this year.
Among the mentioned communities are Yapurt Dumit, Embrujo I, Villa Hortensia, Miraflores, and La Joya.
More Read
In the opinion of the council members, it is concerning that the City Council is moving forward with the planning of the 2027 Participatory Budget while communities continue to wait for previously approved projects.
“Communities vote one year and cannot wait two to see results,” they warned.
Accountability requested regarding Hospedaje Yaque
Regarding the intervention of Hospedaje Yaque, the bloc valued the support of the Presidency of the Republic for the project, but demanded greater transparency regarding its execution.
They recalled that since 2021 they had warned about the need for a comprehensive intervention of this important shopping center in Santiago, affected for years by infrastructure, organization, and sanitation problems.
The council members requested to make public the budget, schedule, execution stages, and percentage of progress of the works.
“We are not here to oppose just for the sake of opposing”
The PLD Councilors’ Bloc asserted that their questioning is part of their oversight responsibility and not an automatic opposition to the municipal administration.
“We are not here to oppose for the sake of opposing. We are here to oversee, point out what is wrong, and present proposals so that things are done better,” they expressed.
The council members warned that they will continue to oversee public resources, works, and administrative decisions of the City Council, supported by the powers granted to them by Law 176-07.
“Santiago does not need more excuses, announcements, or kickoff events. It needs results,” they concluded.
