Santo Domingo. Each year, the Dominican State allocates hundreds of millions of pesos to external consultancies, under the argument of improving efficiency in public management. However, a journalistic investigation led by journalist Ángela Ramírez puts the real justification of these contracts, their execution, and the recurring actors who benefit from this lucrative business under scrutiny.
Since 2012, more than 5 billion pesos have been channeled through more than 3,000 consulting contracts, according to data obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. Although the law allows these contracts under exception processes, the lawyer specializing in public administration, Yulibelys Wandelpool, warns that they must be duly justified and respond to real technical deficiencies, not become parallel mechanisms of employment or favoritism.
You may be interested in: The invisible cost of advice: What’s behind the state’s millionaire spending on consultancies?
One of the recent cases that raises concern is that of lawyer Joaquín Antonio Zapata Martínez, who benefited from a contract of 1.5 million pesos to provide legal services to INDOTEL just two months after registering as a State supplier. Coincidentally, Zapata was the defense attorney for the current president of INDOTEL in a personal lawsuit, which raises questions about possible conflicts of interest.
Between 2020 and 2024, during the administration of President Luis Abinader, spending on consultancies exceeded 2.858 billion pesos, more than in any previous administration. Despite the increase, citizens still do not perceive significant improvements in key areas such as citizen security. The Ministry of Interior and Police has spent tens of millions on consultancies to design security strategies that, to date, have not translated into tangible results.
More Read
Companies and consultants that accumulate numerous contracts were also identified, such as Management Consulting Group SRL (24 contracts), GRH Consultores (21 contracts), and the consultant Ricardo Oscar González Hernández, who appears in another 21. This raises questions about transparency and fairness in the awarding processes.
In the ranking of the most expensive consultancies, the 325 million pesos contract awarded in 2021 to Aordominicana stands out for managing the strategic communication of a state entity that was eliminated a month later. Other relevant contracts include 191 million for feasibility studies of a dam, and 132 million for advice in an international arbitration.
“The hiring of consultancies should not become a permanent patch to cover internal deficiencies, but rather an exceptional tool, well justified and with concrete results,” pointed out lawyer Wandelpool. Furthermore, she insisted that the lack of consequences for detected irregularities weakens institutionalism and undermines citizen trust.
More Read
The investigation also points to the trajectory of Juan Carlos Quinche Ramírez, beneficiary of multiple contracts in different institutions, even simultaneously performing functions as an internal technician and external consultant.
This panorama reveals a worrying dependence of the state apparatus on external consultancies, often without clarity in the results, without follow-up control, and with beneficiaries who always seem to be on the list.
By Ángela Ramírez
