NewsWhore
02-12-2009, 02:30 PM
A court of arbitration appointed by the Council of Conciliation and Arbitration of the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce and Production ruled against the Central Electoral Board and awarded US$9.04 million to Consorcio Soluciones Modernas (SOMO). The court ordered the continuation of the contract for the automating of the civil and electoral registries. The decision decreed last Monday, 9 February, was notified to the electoral organization. The JCE has 30 days to make the payment or face a judicial sanction for non-compliance of the sentence that will add US$20,000 per day of non-payment. The president of the JCE, Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman reacted immediately, calling an emergency meeting of the other members of the board for next Wednesday to find a way out of the situation. "In the meeting of the full board we can figure out the measures to take, although the impression is that this can't happen," emphasized the JCE president at the same time assuring reporters that "this is a situation that we will have to face."
The SOMO consortium filed the compulsory demand for payment in the arbitration court after the JCE suspended the payments stipulated in the contract for bringing the civil registry offices up to date.
In their decision, the arbitrators stated that the electoral board "did not present, in their written defense, any allegation in their favor, or develop their defense strategy, refuting or contradicting what was alleged or develop a counter-demand. "If the accused in the complaint was not satisfied with the execution of the contract or with the time frame of its execution, they should have notified this in writing, requiring the appropriate corrections," states the arbitration court opinion. It further indicates that the JCE should have used the mechanisms for solving conflicts that were established in the contract and not unilaterally suspend payment. The JCE interrupted payments to carry out an expert review to determine the quality of the work that was being done by SOMO.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)
The SOMO consortium filed the compulsory demand for payment in the arbitration court after the JCE suspended the payments stipulated in the contract for bringing the civil registry offices up to date.
In their decision, the arbitrators stated that the electoral board "did not present, in their written defense, any allegation in their favor, or develop their defense strategy, refuting or contradicting what was alleged or develop a counter-demand. "If the accused in the complaint was not satisfied with the execution of the contract or with the time frame of its execution, they should have notified this in writing, requiring the appropriate corrections," states the arbitration court opinion. It further indicates that the JCE should have used the mechanisms for solving conflicts that were established in the contract and not unilaterally suspend payment. The JCE interrupted payments to carry out an expert review to determine the quality of the work that was being done by SOMO.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)