NewsWhore
05-07-2008, 03:10 PM
The National Price Stabilization Institute (INESPRE) has probably outlived its usefulness. Created by the late President Joaquin Balaguer nearly 40 years ago, the institution has become little more than a warehouse for employees with little or nothing to do. The Listin Diario says that 87% of the budget goes towards the payroll of 3,000 employees.
Low-cost supermarkets that were once stocked with inexpensive foodstuffs are now either vacant or lined with near-empty shelves. According to INESPRE's director general, Jose Francisco Pena Guaba, the Ministry of Agriculture has created a substitute in the Farmers' Markets that have been set up all over the country. These markets have stripped Inespre of its functions. In order to avoid entering into a political controversy, Pena Guaba told Listin Diario reporters that the ministry is closer to farmers than the institute he directs, which is why the government had asked the ministry to set up farmers' markets. Pena Guaba did say that the ministry is not there to trade with farm goods, "because one entity cannot be involved in the management of production and marketing of those products at the same time". According to the paper, one of the main problems with Inespre is that its budget hardly covers its payroll, leaving scant funds to purchase farm goods for sale at reasonable prices.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
Low-cost supermarkets that were once stocked with inexpensive foodstuffs are now either vacant or lined with near-empty shelves. According to INESPRE's director general, Jose Francisco Pena Guaba, the Ministry of Agriculture has created a substitute in the Farmers' Markets that have been set up all over the country. These markets have stripped Inespre of its functions. In order to avoid entering into a political controversy, Pena Guaba told Listin Diario reporters that the ministry is closer to farmers than the institute he directs, which is why the government had asked the ministry to set up farmers' markets. Pena Guaba did say that the ministry is not there to trade with farm goods, "because one entity cannot be involved in the management of production and marketing of those products at the same time". According to the paper, one of the main problems with Inespre is that its budget hardly covers its payroll, leaving scant funds to purchase farm goods for sale at reasonable prices.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)