NewsWhore
07-24-2009, 04:00 PM
President Leonel Fernandez and government officials yesterday provided explanations about the large bureaucracy and multiple laws that are already in effect to fight government corruption. President Leonel Fernandez convened with media directors at the Presidential Palace yesterday and argued that government employees are neither protected nor privileged. He acknowledged that the public is irritated after reports of corruption have been amply aired in the media. But during the meeting he described corruption that has been detected in government as "minor things."
Speaking to a group of media directors, President Leonel Fernandez admitted that there have been "weaknesses" in the administrative handlings of his government, but said that this had taken place in decentralized government departments. He said he did not protect government officials and that his only loyalty was to the homeland.
Fernandez said that he was confident that there were no corrupt officials in his government. "I trust that they are not committing acts of corruption."
He added that there was a lack of internal control mechanisms or auditors in the decentralized government departments, and that it is possible for government officials to appoint their relatives, spend too much, and that this unsupervised practice can lead to the perception that there is corruption in government.
"In the centralized part of government, there is more control, today we are publishing the tenders, and no-bid contracts are not being handed out", he told the journalists.
Fernandez says that many of the problems in the decentralized institutions are to do with management of funds, human resources, misuse of cellular phones and the purchase of expensive vehicles.
But he repeatedly downplayed the situation by saying they were no "hyper" cases of corruption. "I think we should also stop [these acts of corruption] because the public is unhappy with this phenomenon and we believe that our duty and obligation is to fight to control that," said the President.
Fernandez said that no alleged corruption case that has dominated the news has been about the misuse of public funds, fraud or accepting bribes and added that he is willing to fire any government official who is charged with proven corruption. He added that any government employee who doesn't act honestly could not be considered his friend or a good employee.
He said his government is applying Law 10-07 on the national system of internal controls and the Controller General of the Republic and Law 449-06 on government procurement.
He said the authorities are working on procedures to get rid of people who hold down two jobs or more in government.
"We are not satisfied with what we have, we are aware that we have the political will to face corruption. We have had many meetings to investigate new standards to strengthen the controls, we will give more dynamism to the ethics commission, and more public information through the Internet", said the head of state.
He announced a hotline for people to make complaints and denounce corruption. He also announced that he would promote a transparency pact with the private sector.
During the meeting, Presidency Secretary Cesar Pina Toribio reported on the work of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. Simon Lizardo, speaking for the General Controller's office, said that 67 centralized government institutions have auditing departments, and come August there will be units at 176 decentralized institutions nationwide.
Eric Hazim, in charge of purchasing and procurement for the government, said that 3,000 government officials are trained in handling procurement.
Hotoniel Bonilla, director of the Department for the Persecution of Corruption (DPCA) said that prosecutors have been trained, and that his department is acquiring new technologies. Bonilla acknowledged that only a few minor corruption cases have been penalized.
Deputy national treasurer Maria Felisa Gutierrez said that internal government controls in place in centralized departments are advancing to reach out to decentralized institutions.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)
Speaking to a group of media directors, President Leonel Fernandez admitted that there have been "weaknesses" in the administrative handlings of his government, but said that this had taken place in decentralized government departments. He said he did not protect government officials and that his only loyalty was to the homeland.
Fernandez said that he was confident that there were no corrupt officials in his government. "I trust that they are not committing acts of corruption."
He added that there was a lack of internal control mechanisms or auditors in the decentralized government departments, and that it is possible for government officials to appoint their relatives, spend too much, and that this unsupervised practice can lead to the perception that there is corruption in government.
"In the centralized part of government, there is more control, today we are publishing the tenders, and no-bid contracts are not being handed out", he told the journalists.
Fernandez says that many of the problems in the decentralized institutions are to do with management of funds, human resources, misuse of cellular phones and the purchase of expensive vehicles.
But he repeatedly downplayed the situation by saying they were no "hyper" cases of corruption. "I think we should also stop [these acts of corruption] because the public is unhappy with this phenomenon and we believe that our duty and obligation is to fight to control that," said the President.
Fernandez said that no alleged corruption case that has dominated the news has been about the misuse of public funds, fraud or accepting bribes and added that he is willing to fire any government official who is charged with proven corruption. He added that any government employee who doesn't act honestly could not be considered his friend or a good employee.
He said his government is applying Law 10-07 on the national system of internal controls and the Controller General of the Republic and Law 449-06 on government procurement.
He said the authorities are working on procedures to get rid of people who hold down two jobs or more in government.
"We are not satisfied with what we have, we are aware that we have the political will to face corruption. We have had many meetings to investigate new standards to strengthen the controls, we will give more dynamism to the ethics commission, and more public information through the Internet", said the head of state.
He announced a hotline for people to make complaints and denounce corruption. He also announced that he would promote a transparency pact with the private sector.
During the meeting, Presidency Secretary Cesar Pina Toribio reported on the work of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. Simon Lizardo, speaking for the General Controller's office, said that 67 centralized government institutions have auditing departments, and come August there will be units at 176 decentralized institutions nationwide.
Eric Hazim, in charge of purchasing and procurement for the government, said that 3,000 government officials are trained in handling procurement.
Hotoniel Bonilla, director of the Department for the Persecution of Corruption (DPCA) said that prosecutors have been trained, and that his department is acquiring new technologies. Bonilla acknowledged that only a few minor corruption cases have been penalized.
Deputy national treasurer Maria Felisa Gutierrez said that internal government controls in place in centralized departments are advancing to reach out to decentralized institutions.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)